Category Archives: Collection Care

A New Home For the Madisonville Scrapbook

We’re excited to announce that the Madisonville branch is in its final stages to re-open their newly renovated space! Please join the library for the opening event March 18th! At the event, the Genealogy and Local History Department staff member, Chris Smith will talk about Madisonville’s history from 3:30 pm – 4 pm.

During the event, the Madisonville scrapbook will be on view for festivities March 18th.

Because this material is HUGE and considered a rare irreplaceable item, both the book and cradle were hand delivered from one building to another by Preservation Lab and Madisonville staff. Below are “behind the scenes” images showing the delivery of these oversized materials.

View of book in its prior home location, recently cleared of books:

For transport, the oversized book was stored in a lightweight (but strong!) custom enclosure:

The custom enclosure consists of multiple light-weight layers and flaps of foam, all tied together with cotton ties, as shown in Chris’ schematic. This enclosure will be used both for transport and for long-term storage.

Once packaged, both the book and cradle were hand delivered to their new home next door:

The book now awaits the re-opening event while staff continue unpacking the rest of collections!

We hope to see you there!

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Rare book and paper conservator

To read about the conservation of the scrapbook and construction of the book’s cradle, please see the treatment documentation and a prior blog article titled, Madisonville Scrapbook.

As a bonus, to celebrate the completion of the oversized treatment, Chris created a comic you can fold from an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Check out the printable file below! Instructions on how to fold can be found on the Preservation Lab’s YouTube channel video titled Preserving Scrapbooks beginning at the 10:42 time stamp.

Challenge of a Millennia: How to Store an Oversized Clay Tablet?

The University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library owns a few cuneiform tablets that date around the 1st century BCE.  Most are small enough to fit within the palm of your hand.  However, the clay tablet in question measures 14 inches (W) by 14 inches (T) x 4.5 inches (D) and weighs roughly 40-50 lbs.

Assyrian cornerstone during surface cleaning

More accurately, it is thought to be an Assyrian cornerstone that dates between 860 and 824 BCE.  It is described in the catalog record to be from the ruins of Calah (near Ninevah) on the Tigris River.  It is likely the cornerstone of a temple or palace erected by Salmanser III, king of Assyria. The provenance of how the University acquired the tablet is uncertain.

A translation of the cuneiform writing reads, ““Salmaneser, the great king, the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, son of Asurnaserpal, the great king, the mighty king, the king of Assyria, son of Tukulbi-Ninib, king of the universe, king of Assyria, and indeed builder of the temple-tower of the city of Calah.”

After surface cleaning and digitizing the cornerstone, finding suitable storage for an Assyrian cornerstone tablet seemed like a straightforward task in the beginning.  I thought, “Let’s get it off the floor, house it, and protect it from dust!”  No problem, right?

But once we got the item back in the lab, the weight of the object combined with its fragility proved more of a challenge after Chris, Holly and I began thinking about how the object would be retrieved from storage and how it would be handled.  Rather than being stored in specialty shelving (such as items might be in a museum), this item was a library item.  We needed to fit the tablet amongst archival book shelving.  We were also faced with the prospect of transporting the cornerstone up and down a flight of stairs from the secure rare book storage. There is no easy elevator access!  And finally, once it was put in an enclosure, how would a librarian get it out to show researchers and students?

We decided on an industrial case with wheels that could be transported and stored anywhere. I knew I wanted a device with handles to pull the object in and out of the case, but immediately decided against the idea of ratchet straps. The threat of fracturing would be too great if the ratchet straps were over-tightened.

After careful thought (and the creation of mock up solutions!) the following custom design was created in five stages:

1. A waterproof, shock-proof rolling Nanuk 950 case (similar to a Pelican case) was purchased.  

2. The interior was customized with foam and supports.

3. The lid was fashioned with a Tyvek pillow screwed to the top with an interior Coroplast sheet.

4. The cornerstone was wrapped around all sides in a foam sheet with four flaps.

5. A cloth wrapper with custom handles was sewn to support the tablet during insertion into and retrieval from the case.

In addition, life-size surrogate photographs were printed by Jessica Ebert and stored in a polyester sleeve within the case.  These images may prove even more useful during exhibition or teaching than seeing the actual tablet as they were captured with raking light that beautifully highlights the cuneiform writing.  They could even be used as an alternative to handling the heavy tablet.

To help guide future librarians on how to handle the cuneiform tablet in the future, handling instructions were provided, a handling video was created, and a QR code of the video was pasted onto the case. Check out the video below.

I was appreciative to have been able to hearken back to my object’s conservation experience working at the Musical Instrument Museum. My prior experience helped guide me to dust the tablet and store surface cleaning samples, however, this was a project that took me out of my library conservation comfort zone.  The knowledge required to house such an object (and the amount of textile sewing used to create the cloth wrapper!) gave me even more appreciation for the work objects and textile conservators do to preserve our oversized and heavy materials – especially when transporting and taking them on and off display!

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Rare book and paper conservator

Video by Jessica Ebert

Hidden Treasures in a 1791 English Bible

The lab received a heavy bible in exceptionally bad condition. The spine was almost nonexistent, with the leather fragments that were hanging on “by a thread.” There were many breaks in the sewing and the book block was in many pieces. The boards were also completely detached making it nearly impossible to handle. With pages that were water stained, the culmination of condition issues demonstrated how the bible had been around the block (a couple times!).

Bible as received
Hidden treasures discovered

While examining the book in preparation for constructing a housing solution, there within the pages I unexpectedly discovered plant specimens! There were quite a few different types. While impossible to know for sure, it seemed to me at one point these specimens were added to mark significant passages. For example, there is a passage in the Christian bible that reads, “And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations,” Revelation 22:2. When I saw the added plant specimens near this passage, my mind immediately went there.

Before preservation
After rehousing

It’s funny how things can trigger thoughts and emotions. With a religious item such as a bible, the dried plant fragments made me imagine how a reader might be moved spiritually to express something they felt deeply in the text in a material way. I was also inspired and glanced at passages beneath the plant specimens seeking out hidden connections. My quest sometimes proved rewarding while others I was left to ponder the hidden meaning.

After rehousing, book is wrapped in foam with cloth ties

The unique plant specimens were retained and stored in polyester sleeves in the same position on each page as they were discovered.   Upon the completion of sleeving, I also consolidated and performed minor leather repair and care to prevent leather fragments from falling off. For long-term storage I created an archival blue corrugated clamshell and wrapped the fragile binding in a sheet of polyester foam.   

Chris Voynovich [CHPL] – Senior Conservation Assistant

Photography by Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

Our Wonderful Week with Jeff Peachey: A Recap in Instagram Reels

At the end of October we were lucky enough to have Jeff Peachey come to the Lab for a week-long workshop on Leather Conservation. We covered sewing extensions, joint tacketing, board splitting and cotton hinges, leather rebacks, and knife sharpening. In the weeks following the workshop we shared highlights from the workshop on our Instagram…

Highlights from the workshop
Sewing extensions and joint tacketing

And we couldn’t not highlight the master at work (sharpening and paring leather likes its butter) and the amazing tools Jeff makes:

Leather rebacks, including board slitting, inserting a cloth hinge, lifting the original leather, dyeing the new leather, and paring and attaching the reback.

Finally, conservation ASMR…Jeff Peachey style! Make sure the sound is on for this one…

We had the best time with Jeff. He is such a knowledgable and approachable instructor, and we learned so much from him. Thanks for coming to the Preservation Lab, Jeff!

Fun fact, did you know that Jeff was inspired by a press we have in the Lab to collaborate with Timothy Moore to create a “perfect all purpose” press that you can buy for your lab or studio?!

Jessica Ebert [UCL] – Social Media Coordinator and Sr. Conservation & Photographic Documentation Specialist

Chain of custody

The phrase “chain of custody” doesn’t illicit much excitement generally speaking, but it’s one part of the workflow in the Preservation Lab that leads to the exciting part — materials return days!

We count on paper forms (pictured below), our homegrown treatment database, and our partner’s catalogs to make sure that at all times our partners know where their treasures are in the conservation workflow.

(Left) Paper treatment forms where we record our conservation time. (Right) My office area with materials preparing to “go home” after chain of custody work completed.

The materials above are ready for return. This happens at regularly scheduled meetings where the materials are delivered back by the lab and the treatments are discussed with the subject selectors. At the return meetings we also do our new intake… and the process begins again!

Holly Prochaska (UCL) —- Preservation Librarian

Sneak Peek into Preservation

After a two year hiatus, the Preservation Lab once again was able to celebrate the American Library Association’s Preservation Week.  And this year, the lab decided to take Preservation Week to the public. 

On the morning of April 21st, Catarina and Jessica took one of the lab’s rolling work tables to the entrance of the Langsam library. There they set up a demonstration area with some very dirty books, to show the public a little bit about surface cleaning. They brought out the different supplies used in surface cleaning (such as hydrophilic sponges, smoke sponges, eraser crumbles and vinyl erasers). In addition to surface cleaning materials, Jessica and Catarina also brought some Japanese tissue for the public to touch and learn about tear repair.

A few members of the public were too nervous to even try to surface clean a little bit of the dirty books (all filled with soot from coal burning stoves), but others were brave enough and felt that surface cleaning was a very satisfying and relaxing treatment.

In the afternoon of the same day, Chris and Hyacinth showed the public a variety of enclosures and how they are made from beginning to end. There were corrugated clamshell boxes, one with an integrated cradle, cloth clamshell boxes, tuxedo boxes and a Japanese four-sided enclosure.

Chris also brought a corrugated clamshell in its early stages to show the public how the process of making a corrugated clamshell begins.

The crowd favorites were the elaborate cloth covered clamshell box made by Chris, and the beautiful Japanese four-sided enclosure made by Hyacinth.

Even though this was a smaller event compared to our open house tours of the past, the event was a success; allowing the Preservation Lab staff  to share with the  UC community a peek into our daily work and explain what goes on in the Preservation Lab. But Preservation week is not done yet…

This upcoming Friday, April 29th at 1 pm, join Holly and Ashleigh at the Clifton Branch of the  Cincinnati and Hamilton Public Library, .They will be showing some books models, explaining how books are made and what materials are used. You can find more details in the following link: https://cincinnatilibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/625422b5cd8e792f000bcfc5

Catarina Figueirinhas (UCL) —- Assistant Conservator

Joy of simple evaluation

Last week I worked on a simple evaluation project for housing late nineteenth and early twentieth century publishers bindings. Here are three that I found particularly pleasing (and in good shape).

They all have in common different interesting green hues – just in case I washed my hands after handling! Why? Check out this post to find out!

Holly Prochaska (UCL) — Preservation Librarian

Instagram Live Event – 10/20 at 3pm (EST)

Join the Preservation Lab staff on Wednesday, October 20th at 3pm (EST) for an quick Instagram Live event centered around a collection of Japanese bindings that were recently conserved and are now in the process of receiving specialized, custom enclosures. We’ll be talking about the two different types of bindings in the collection, creating Japanese four-sided enclosures, why we make models, and answering any questions you might have!

Mark your calendars, or better yet, follow us on Instagram @thepreservationlab for updates, because you won’t want to miss this behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in the Lab. See you then!

You can now view the live event on the Preservation Lab’s IGTV.

Jessica Ebert [UCL] – Sr. Conservation & Photographic Documentation Specialist

Training and other new adventures

It’s great to be back in the Lab full-time! And it’s great to be learning new things. I’m up to my eyebrows in General Collection treatment training, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Today: custom pambinders and manuscript folders.  

Hyacinth Tucker (UCL) —- Bindery and Conservation Technician