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Category Archives: Enclosures
An Oversized Enclosure that “Slays”
Winter is approaching here in Cincinnati, far too quickly for my taste! But at the Lab we have been thinking about a winter staple a bit differently… The sled! A book sled, that is. This open-topped carrier of bound treasures has become the newest edition to our enclosure family. It is perfect for housing oversized books to be stored flat, as it enables easy transport of these large tomes, without adding too much extra weight.
The sled has been honed and developed over the years by conservation professionals, but it has its roots at the Newberry in Chicago, where they were used to house their large antiphonary collection. I had the privilege of working at the Newberry prior to joining the incredible team here at The Preservation Lab, so the idea of starting to create book sleds at the Lab has been lurking at the back of my mind. At the Newberry, I was able to create my very first book sled, and understand the simple, yet highly functional structure.
The book sled was refined by Ann Lindsey and Melina Avery from the University of Chicago when they treated and housed a 52-pound antiphonary from their collection. They were able to design a sled with additional walls and stronger reinforcements. Chris Saclolo from the University of Central Florida further enhanced the book sled by adding wall reinforcements and a removable lower tray.
When the Lab received an elephant folio from the University of Cincinnati Classic’s Library that needed treatment and housing, we were able to create the very first book sled at our Lab! Housing a book over 20 inches tall is no easy feat, so we were thrilled to be able to use the experience and advice from our fellow conservation professionals. I worked alongside Chris Voynovich and Catarina Figueirinhas (because 3 minds are so much better than 1) where we problem solved, planned, and constructed this large book sled. The finished sled design closely follows Saclolo’s recommendations, with minor adjustments to the tray, as our book did not have bosses.
Kasie and Chris working together to construct the book sled. 
Catarina was able to create a model that we can use as a reference in the future.
Ultimately, the book sled will allow the book, Facsimiles of National Manuscripts of Ireland, to be visible on the shelf while also aiding in transporting the book through the library when needed. It will also prevent additional damage and abrasion to the leather at the spine, which received a reback during treatment.
We already have additional oversized books in the Lab for treatment, so more sleds will be on the docket this winter!
Kasie Janssen (CHPL) – Senior Conservation Technician
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
Playing Favorites: Lab Staff Share Their Most-Loved Treatments & Projects
To celebrate national Preservation Week (April 25 – May1, 2021), staff at the Preservation Lab are sharing the following answers to the question below as they reflect upon the wealth of library resources located in the Cincinnati community:
What is your favorite treatment or project that you have worked on in the Lab?
Jessica Ebert:
Learning a new photographic imaging technique, RTI
In April of 2017 I had the amazing opportunity of attending a 4-day workshop at Yale University to learn Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) from the experts at Cultural Heritage Imaging. It was one of the most exciting experiences of my career, and when I came back to the Lab to show the staff what I had learned, Aller Bucher Und Schrifften volume from Martin Luther was one of the first items we captured with RTI. I remember that moment when Catarina and I completed the capture and processed the images – we were just in awe of everything we could see with RTI that we couldn’t under normal illumination. Since then, we’ve made changes to our equipment and our workflow, so now the results are even better than they were back then…but this will always be my favorite.
The left side of the image shows the front cover under normal illumination, or what you see with your naked eye, whereas the right side is a RTI generated image using the specular enhancement mode. 
This generated snapshot illustrates the Static Multi Light mode. Below the center panel that features a portrait of Martin Luther you can see “1571”, and above the panel you can see “ID”, both of which are virtually impossible to see in the normal illumination image.
Catarina Figueirinhas:
Treatment of Diseases of the Sexual Organs, Male and Female from the Winkler Center
Of all the projects I have worked on at the Preservation Lab, this item is by far one of my ultimate favorite treatments I was able to perform. This book was brought to the Preservation Lab in poor condition. The book had no binding, the text block was split in multiple areas, the sewing was broken, and several pages of the text block where either torn or had extensive loss. In addition, most of the text block showed signs of water damage. Since this book was in such poor condition and the curator of the collection wanted the book to be handled by scholars and the public, it was necessary to do a full conservation treatment.
I was thrilled when I got assigned to this book treatment. I love to work on any book, but the more complicated or involved treatments the better and this was definitely the case. In this treatment, I was able to repair the text block, reduce some of the tideline staining, fill losses and resew the entire text block, while also creating a new binding (called a split board binding) that is strong and flexible to allow such a heavy book to be read.
Before Treatment – Initial condition of the book when it was received by the Preservation Lab. The text block was split, the sewing was broken, and several pages were torn or had paper loss. 
After Treatment – Conservation treatment complete. After the text block was repaired and resewn, the book received a new split board binding that allowed the heavy book to be read while mitigating further damage. 
After Treatment – The new split board binding provided the book a more flexible opening.
This treatment took a long time to complete, and to this day it is still one of the projects that I have enjoyed the most. Click here to see the complete treatment report and all the photographic documentation. To learn more about conservation split board bindings, check out the Preservation Lab blog post by Kasie and Jessica.
Kasie Janssen:
Iron gall ink treatment of the CHPL Jones Account Book
Washing and rebinding treatments are always a favorite when they come across my bench, as they allow a highly damaged item to become usable and accessible once again. An account book of Jones and Rammelsberg offered one such treatment as it came to the lab with a myriad of issues: a damaged book block without a binding, corroding iron gall ink, previous mold damage, and a shocking amount of pest evidence. The treatment is incredibly memorable because to tackle the issues of aging iron gall ink I was able wash the pages of the book block using a calcium phytate bath to stabilize the manuscript. Once the washing was complete, I was able to resew and rebind the book block, making it whole, functional, and protected once again. It is rare and special to have done such an involved treatment, but in this case the in-depth steps allowed previous damage to be treated and helped remedy the inherent vice of aging materials.
The book block before treatment was highly damaged, so much so, that it was difficult for library patrons and staff to access and use the item without a cover. 
Handling the book, you’d never know the hours of labor that went into the treatment (including learning!), but its functional form makes it ready for use once again.
Curious about what some of this process looks like? Check out our Preservation Lab Instagram, @thepreservationlab, and see our Phytate Treatment Stories!
Holly Prochaska:
Creating the Italian ledger binding for our teaching model collection
The lab creates a lot of models. Many of these models are made in preparation for treatments. However, some models are created with instruction or engagement in mind. These models, such as the Italian stationery binding (laminated archival bind) I created, help illustrate the history of the book as its form and manufacturing process change over time. Check out the model at the blog entry where you can see a video of the binding being handled. Follow the instructions on the blog make you very own, and in the future, come see it for yourself when our in-person open houses resume in the future.
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer:
Treatment of a Haggadah owned by Hebrew Union College
I particularly enjoy the problem solving nature of special collection treatments and thus, my “favorite” treatment is usually the one I’m working on. Currently, I’m treating a Haggadah owned by Hebrew Union College that dates to 1526 or 1527. While I’ve treated other haggadahs from HUC, including this one, this project involved iron gall ink treatment AND rebinding a textblock with two different sized leaves, or pages, into its original historic leather cover. Because the binding had been previously treated and reformatted with materials that did not age well, collaboration with the librarians at HUC required exploration into whether we wanted to re-create the past reformatting option with longer lasting materials, or perhaps, explore a new option altogether. Before we committed to a solution, I created a model to test out a new option since unanticipated questions or outcomes often arise during experimental pursuits. For that reason, it’s better to problem solve on a model, rather than on an actual special collection material. In the end, the librarians and I were happy with the results of the new option, and I’m currently at the stage where I’m ready to start rebinding the pages of the actual object.
The top image shows the book open to smaller sized printed leaves before treatment. Leaves are previously reformatted with yellowed tape along the edges, attached to larger paper frames. Paper frames are cockled and distorted. The middle image shows a detail of untrimmed, full-size manuscript leaves. The bottom image shows the fore edge of the binding before treatment. 
These images show the model that explores a solution to encapsulate the smaller pages into polyester sleeves that could be sewn into the binding next to the larger pages. This required staff to weld polyester sleeves with paper hinges that could be sewn through like a gathering. 
The image shows the binding ready for resewing with its new encapsulated leaves, or pages, next to the created model.
Hyacinth Tucker:
Treatment of Shakspere’s Seven Ages illustrated by James Landy
Not only was this piece based on a favorite subject of mine (I love Shakespeare!), this was a historic photograph treatment I was able to handle with just a little guidance. I was able to properly identify the photographic elements on the first try, performed a surface cleaning on the piece, and created my very first cloth-covered clamshell and cradle to house it. It was such a wealth of learning experiences within one project, which is the best part of my work!
Chris Voynovich:
Constructing a custom cloth-covered enclosure to house the Public Library’s William S. Porter Collection of photographs
One of my favorite aspects of the job here, in the lab, is designing and creating custom enclosures. This collection of rare daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes is an example of adapting a standard cloth covered clamshell to accommodate a collection. I created two trays with pull tabs that are removable for easy access and display. Each photograph has its own tuxedo box and is set in polyethylene foam (Volara) for protection. The tuxedo box enclosures are identical in size to reduce confusion while repacking. Check out this blog created by Jessica that shows a gif of the enclosure opening and closing, and this blog post showing a similar enclosure I created for a dairy collection.
In case you missed, head over to the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library’s blog where Holly shared some of the Lab staff’s favorite tools and equipment yesterday.
Today at 3pm (EST) join Jessica and Catarina on the Preservation Lab’s Instagram (@thepreservationlab) for a quick, informal Instagram Live.
Then tomorrow, make sure to tune into the Public Library’s Instagram (@cincylibrary) at 12pm (EST) for an in-depth Instagram Live event where Catarina and Jessica will be sharing treatments they are currently working on; giving you a behind-the-scenes look and answering all your questions “Live in the Lab”.
Finally, Friday a new video will be posted on the Preservation Lab’s YouTube channel.
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Rare Book and Paper Conservator, Lab Co-Manager
No-stick protective Mylar jacket for CD compilation
The purpose of this blog is to show a relatively easy long-term solution for strengthening and protecting the packaging for shallow banker’s box enclosures. There are two notable benefits to using this solution. The first being that in some cases little to no repairing needs to be done to damaged parts of the box and the second is at no time does any adhesive come into contact with the original piece. I have developed this system down to a science. If I make my measurements correctly, from start to finish, the lid and base jacket can be made from the custom stencils in about 180 minutes.
Ultimately you’ll be cutting 2 pieces of 4 mil Mylar to the following dimensions (W+thx4+4inches x H+thx4+4 inches) with the help of stencils.
To make a stencil I just place the lid in the center of the wastepaper and adding about 1mm all around, trace the width and height. Add 1 wall thickness all around followed by 1 wall board thickness all around then another wall thickness all around. Draw each of these added lines all the way to the edge of the paper.
You may notice little adaptations to the tabs that will be cut out of the Mylar. I make the tabs on opposite sides to create symmetry. Here is a close-up of one.
After scoring and cutting out the Mylar to match the pattern, fold on the lines using either a ruler and bone folder or your fingers.
When you are all ready, place the box in the center of the Mylar sleeve and place double stick tape where the tabs will secure the corners. Start with the outside corners first.
One of the great qualities of this protective wrapper is that it can cut out repair time by the virtue of the strength of the wrapper itself.
Secure the rest of the outside, then inside corners, and we’re done!
Now it’s time to enjoy the music.
Chris Voynovich (CHPL) — Senior Conservation Technician
Enclosures and the Kyle Insert
Last month, I showed you how to make a corrugated clamshell. At that time, I mentioned some alternative strategies for special situations, such as considerations of working space, collection size, etc. Pre-made boxes may be the way to go here. They’re generally non-adhesive, and excellent if you have a large collection that needs help, but can’t be worked on right away, for pieces going to off-site storage, or if you’re in a situation where box building space is at a premium, such as many of our work from home setups (I’m currently working at my kitchen table, which is definitely a squeeze sometimes!)
There are multiple ways to obtain pre-made enclosures:
- Many commercial binderies offer custom economy boxing. Our Lab uses HF Group (http://www.hfgroup.com/) when needed. Their work is excellent, and their enclosures can be created from sent measurements. This is wonderful for housing items in our collection that require storage, but we feel are too fragile to be shipped.
- Most major conservation suppliers, such as Talas (https://www.talasonline.com/) and Gaylord (https://www.gaylord.com/c/Conservation-Supplies) offer archival boxes in common sizes.
A pre-made enclosure can also be a great option for very small items, to keep them from becoming lost on the shelf.
Under normal circumstances, a box created in the Lab for a small piece would be lined with foam to keep it from moving around in the larger cavity, but when the pandemic hit, we thought it might be a good idea to find ways to do this that didn’t require foam, which might be expensive or difficult to source or store.
Enter the Kyle Insert. Developed by Kyle Olmon, it is an answer to the ongoing question of new ways to store smaller items that will keep them safe and prevent them from getting lost. It works well for things like artist books, which are often incredibly small. It’s also a time saver in lieu of foams. I don’t know about you, but cutting foam is not my favorite thing. An alternative is always welcome when it is appropriate, and we (and the books!) can always benefit from having multiple ways to solve problems.
Written instructions from Kyle Olmon are available on-line at https://kyleolmon.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/kyle_insert_v2_instructions.pdf . I found that the insert made more sense to me when I had a visual representation. It’s a surprisingly simple structure but may not seem that way on paper. In light of that, I did something a little different and put together a video of my assembly efforts, interspersed with instructions and diagrams from Kyle Olmon throughout. Hopefully the video combined with Mr. Olmon’s excellent instructions will help you get started with this form!
Hyacinth Tucker (UCL) — Bindery and Conservation Technician
Another type of hybrid lab – remote and on-site
As you might imagine remote work for a preservation lab is…complicated. Not all items awaiting treatment are good candidates for repair in the home studios of staff – the repair might require specialized equipment that is only available in the lab (e.g. suction table), the item may be too valuable to transport to a private home without engaging UC risk management and CHPL administration (i.e. all our special collections!), or the object may be too large to safely be worked on in our diminutive setups (e.g. many books with the folio designation).
But, that doesn’t mean that work from home isn’t happening! The image below is a batch of completed treatments awaiting return to our partners. These treatments are general circulating items that have been repaired, as well as items receiving custom enclosures created without the object, using just the objects measurements. The materials have been treated from home and now, on our new abbreviated lab schedule, are being end processed and returned to their originating institutions.
Though we all deeply miss the day-to-day work in the Preservation Lab, remotely we maintain our ethos of preservation stewardship keeping us connected to the lab’s preservation mission and the missions of our parent institutions. In this, we remain unchanged.
Holly Prochaska (UCL) — Preservation Librarian
Enclosures and the corrugated clamshell
Tuxedo boxes are fantastic, accessible enclosures. Sadly, they do have their limitations, as anything does. If you’re working with a piece that is a larger or heavier (or both!), a piece that is a bit more delicate and in need of more protection, or a piece that isn’t all in one piece, you may want to look at a corrugated clamshell.
The corrugated clamshell is a slightly more complex, yet infinitely versatile addition to a good basic preservation enclosure arsenal. Developed by Andrea Krupp in 1988, it’s great for pieces that are awaiting treatment but need stabilization in the meantime. It also works beautifully for boxing sets of items that don’t quite merit the time commitment that a cloth-covered clamshell might. I have also found a corrugated clamshell to be perfect for things like experimental music scores (which may include cards, CDs, or any number of other unexpected items) that need to be shelf-ready in a hurry.
So let’s make one. The material list for this is actually surprisingly small:
- A cutting implement, such as a scalpel or X-acto or Olfa knife
- At least one ruler. I generally use two – a meter rule for laying down lines, and a 12-inch rule for most cuts.
- A bone folder. This should have at least one end that is fully rounded. You don’t want to push through your board!
- PVA; archival quality, of course. While there are a few ways to make a non-adhesive box that I won’t get into with this entry, the method we use here in the Lab does require it.
- A way to secure the adhered portions of the box. In the Lab, this would be done with large bulldog or binders clips with board scraps to prevent marring, but if you’re at home without something like those, some strategically-placed weights will do nicely.
- And of course, your corrugated board. Again, archival quality. For most projects, we use B flute (3mm thickness), but we do use E flute (1.6mm thickness) as well. E flute is used for my example photographs, throughout the entry.
In the Lab, planning for our corrugated boxes begins with an Excel spreadsheet. Brought to us by Ashleigh via UCLA, this greatly shortens our box making time by automating the measurements needed for each project. With just the height, width, and thickness of your piece, the sheet maps out every measurement you need for a snug, custom enclosure. As you can imagine, in a production lab like ours, this is a huge boon. I highly recommend it, and I would be happy to send it to you! (Feel free to email me any time at hyacinth.tucker@uc.edu or check out this link to past OPC workshop handouts!)
Once we have our measurements secured, it’s time to cut our board down to size and lay down our guide-lines. Two things to remember: 1) be sure to make all your markings on the side of the board with visible corrugated lines, this way the guide-lines and the less aesthetically pleasing side of the box are on the inside of the enclosure (with the exception of fragile items that might rub against the corrugation such as red rotted leather); and 2) do your best to orient the grain in the proper direction. When the box is finished, the visible corrugated lines should run in the same direction as the spine of the book. The overall board sizing can be done with your larger ruler, rather than a board shear or oversized paper cutter, if you’re very careful. That same ruler can then be used to measure out the cutting and scoring lines.
Next, let’s make our box cuts. If you have one, the smaller ruler is great here. Again, the spreadsheet makes this part simple. Cut on the solid lines, score and fold on the dashed lines. One thing that the sheet doesn’t mention is that the inner corners of each box wall need to be cut. Not much; you don’t want to expose your materials to the elements. Just a little corner to keep them from catching on each other when you close your completed box.
Now that all of the cuts are done, we move on to the scoring and creasing. In the Lab, all of the creasing across the width of the box is done with a large crimper, and the lengthwise work is done by hand. Fortunately, if you don’t have access to a crimper, it’s pretty easy to score with one of your rulers and the rounded bone folder. Just take your time, and don’t press too hard; you don’t want to break through the board.
can help hold everything together while the adhesive dries.
Next, let’s pull it all together. First, fold up the sides of your box, to define your inner trays. If you are using 3mm board, this is a great time to use your bone folder to flatten the flaps, in order to prevent bulk when pasted down. Next, tuck the flaps into the fold over portions at each end. This is where the PVA comes in. Put it on the flaps and the interior of the fold-overs. Be generous, but not too generous; we don’t want it to gush out when we make the folds. Secure the fold-overs with the clips/weights, and leave it all to dry. I aim for overnight, if I can, so that the PVA can off-gas a bit before I put the piece inside. If you can leave it for longer, that’s even better.
And there you have it, a lovely custom corrugated clamshell that’s perfect for your needs. In my next post we’ll look at some non-adhesive solutions, and a great way to customize them.
Until next time!
Hyacinth Tucker (UCL) — Bindery and Conservation Technician
Enclosures and the tux box
When in the course of an item’s history it becomes clear that the book or artifact could use extra attention, or just another element of design to aid in its care and preservation, we create enclosures.
Enclosures create a microclimate that provides a darker more consistent environment for works to be stored in. There are many types of enclosures used for many different reasons, ranging from an impermanent simple paper wrap to more long-term solutions such as cloth covered clamshells.
We use enclosures to provide a range of protection for their contents.
- A microclimate providing enhanced consistency concerning heat and humidity fluctuations.
- A barrier against damaging UV rays.
- Dust and pest control.
- A strong support for contents.
Because there is so much documentation done on customized high-end enclosures that require greater skill and experience, such as cloth covered clamshells, I will discuss easy to make, low cost enclosures. To be honest, saving time and money is at the forefront of any business. Enter the elegant tux box.
A tux box serves admirably the need for a cheap, easy first line of defense. We usually create tux boxes using 20-point Bristol board with measurements custom to the book. The tux box provides an adequate barrier against dust and light. Another virtue of the tux box is that old books that have suffered degradation and have become brittle are provided a more stable structure for storage and handling. It should be mentioned though that because of the nature of the design, temperature, humidity and some dust and light may enter inside the tux box through the exposed corners, possibly allowing these damaging elements inside.
So, let’s make one.
First make 3 jigs. The jigs will provide a guide to add extra board thicknesses to our book box dimensions to account for overlapping our boards during folding. We use 20-point Bristol board. Our jigs are three thicknesses – 1 thickness, 2 thicknesses and 3 thicknesses. We’ll label them 1,2 and 3.
Let’s also make a handy-dandy information guide that will record all our objects measurements and identifying info on a scrap of bristol board. Record the books thickness (TH), width (W), height (H), call number and title of our book. Use tic marks to record measurements as seen below. This will be useful for quick reference as we create our tux box.
There is a grain direction in Bristol board, (the grain direction is which way the fibers are aligned) for this purpose we will cut 1 length of the Bristol board with the grain running the (H) of our book and 1 length the (W) of our book plus 1 board thickness (W+1BT).
Use our information guide and jigs to measure, score and fold the horizontal or inner height-based board as follows: (W-1BT), (TH), (W), (TH) then (W-1BT).
For the outer vertical width-based board we also score and fold starting with an x lightly placed in the corner to identify the outermost flap. With our information guide and jigs and starting from the side with our x we measure, (H), (TH+3BT), (H+1BT), (TH+2BT), (H).
Wrap the horizontal piece around the book and then fit it into the vertical part. You can either use double sided tape or PVA to adhere these two together.
Next, the tricky part. Creating the flap to secure its closed position. Measure, mark and cut the tongue on the outermost flap, let’s use a visual for this part.
Lastly, cut a slot for the tongue to fit into which secures the tux box closed. Close the tux box as if it is finished with tongue out. With a pencil draw a light “v” in the corner where the tab lays closed. Open the tab and place 2 small holes with a Japanese hole punch or an awl. Cut 2 lines connecting the holes forming a slot. Fit tab into the slot to close. Feel free to round the corners of the tab and all flaps using a corner rounder.
Tux box in the open position. 
Tux box in the closed position.
You can also customize tux boxes to accommodate a varity of book sizes. No one wants to add an enclosure to their collection that is the size of a miniature book, it would be so tiny it would get lost. We can adapt the enclosure by adding spacers to bring the overall size of the tux box to at least 5”x7”.
Here is a link to an adaptation made to a clam shell that could also be used in a tux box as well.
So, the tux box is an easy-peasy solution for an extra layer of strength and protection for its contents. Unlike the Hostess Twinkie, the tux box is not expected to endure the apocalypse. I feel given the cost of materials and time spent to make one, it’s a fine, adaptable addition our enclosure family.
Chris Voynovich (CHPL) — Senior Conservation Technician