Tag Archives: University of Cincinnati Libraries

300 photographs?! More like 4800 photographs!! 

This past March, at one of our Special collections meetings, the Lab received a photographic project from UC’s Classics Library. This was a large German collection comprised of 16 series, each series with approximately 300 photographs, a total of about 4800 photographs!! These are silver gelatin photographs that depict ancient sculptures. The photographs are important since in some cases they show sculptures that may have been destroyed during the WWII.

  • Before Treatment – Series 5 of the 16 series of photographs
  • Before Treatment – Original enclosure – Book board with cloth ties
  • Before Treatment – Curled photographs

All the photographs were curled, some showed silver mirroring, and minor tears along the edges, or creases. Most of the conservation treatment focuses on humidification and flattening of each photograph. With such a large number of photographs, the project was divided between Chris (Senior Conservation Technician), Hyacinth (Conservation Technician), and myself (Assistant Conservator).

Before Treatment – Photographs as they were received in the Preservation Lab. Overall, curled with small tears along the edges.

We each took a series of photographs to work on. Ahead of starting the project, we conducted some tests, along with Ashleigh (Conservator), to understand how long we should humidify the photographs, we create the pressing stacks that would be used for the flattening, and some guidelines that we could all refer to throughout the projects.

Before Treatment – Curled photograph, tear, and creased corners (Recto)
Before Treatment – Curled photograph, tear, and creased corners (Verso)

We concluded that we would obtain the best results by only humidifying the photographs for a maximum of 20-30 mins and then pressing them. First, we pressed the photographs between pressing stacks of thin Hollytex, blotter, Rising Museum Photomount mat board and binders board for two days. Then we pressed them in a book press or under weights between Photomount mat board until the compression enclosure is created. Before humidification, each photograph was surface cleaned with a hydrophilic sponges.

  • During Treatment – Small batch of Photographs being humidified in a cold humidity chamber.
  • During Treatment – Photographs being prepared for flattening by being pressed in a pressing stack.

After being humidified, small cracks on the emulsion and small tears were repaired.

Chris is usually faster with any treatment, so his batch has been fully treated, and now he is in the process of making an enclosure, a cloth clamshell compression enclosure to ensure the photographs don’t start to curl again.

During Treatment – Chris working on the cloth clamshell compression enclosure.

I am still working on my batch. I currently have one-fifth of the photographs being pressed and the rest are awaiting humidification and flattening. This is a long project that requires constant monitoring and time for pressing, but it is so satisfying to see the photographs slowly relaxing and flattening. It will probably take us a few years or more to fully complete the entire 16 series, but once the project is complete each series will be safely housed and repair.

Before Treatment – Photographs as they were received in the Preservation Lab. Overall, curled with small tears along the edges.
After treatment – Photographs have been humidified and flattened, each received minor stabilization treatment
After treatment – Photographs flattened.

Catarina Figueirinhas [UCL] – Assistant Conservator

Sharing Our Work With The Public

Happy Preservation Week 2020 – Day 3!

Working in the basement of Langsam Library, we’re not often afforded many opportunities to connect directly with the general public. As Catarina mentioned yesterday, therefore, our usual “go-to” is to host an open house once a year during Preservation Week. Since we’re all hunkered down at home, we’d like to invite you check out some of the work we do, DIGITALLY.

If you’re curious about what we’re working on at home, be sure to check out this prior blog post.

This Friday, May 1st, 2020 at noon:

Please join Special Collections Conservator, Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer on Facebook Live to talk about scrapbooks.

Facebook Live with the Public Library, May 1st, 2020

Designed as a family event, there’s a little something for all ages:

  • During the session, we’ll fold a One-Page Wonder coloring book comic strip (created by Senior Conservation Technician, Christopher Voynovich) that highlights treatment of a 3 x 4 foot oversized scrapbook!
  • We’ll also talk about typical condition issues found in historic scrapbooks, such as those owned by the Public Library
  • As well as answer any questions you might have about preserving your own at home.

If you were unable to join, you can still check out the FB Live archived event here.

You can also download and print Chris’ comic and check out this video on how to fold a One-Page Wonder:

Airing after May 2nd:

Be on the lookout for the Lab’s 30-minute segment with Cincinnati’s Waycross Government TV station, or watch below.

This video highlights the collaborative nature of the Lab’s work that spans a variety of preservation and library-related activities. Meet conservation staff and hear stories from each staff member about some of their favorite projects, including the treatment of an iron gall ink manuscript, as well as where you can check out the lab’s online treatment documentation.

Stay tuned for more Preservation Week updates tomorrow, and don’t forget to check out ALA’s Preservation Week resources: http://www.ala.org/alcts/preservationweek. Take advantage of free webinars, information on preserving oral history, and more!

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [PLCH] – Lab Manager, Conservator

Work From Home

As things change daily in Ohio, we’re staying informed by listening to Governor Mike DeWine’s press briefings at 2pm, in addition to updates from UCL and the Public Library.

In particular, we recommend accessing the Public Library’s COVID-19 web page to see what info and resources the Library is sharing daily, such as how to obtain after school snacks provided by the UMC Food Ministry.

Another resource we’d like to pass along is about the management of collections when faced with a public health emergency. Please see the Massachusetts COSTEP website about collections maintenance, environmental cleaning, and library lending:

Public Health Emergencies

*Update 3/27/2020: The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) has also published a useful list of Collections Care Amid Covid-19 resources to check out. See the Ohio Preservation Council’s COVID-19 page as well.

As of Monday (3/16/2020) the Preservation Lab staff are practicing safe social distancing by sheltering in place. We have packed up our benches and transformed our personal living spaces into productive places to work from home. 

  • Holly’s adorable nook with typewritten words per day!
  • As well as a space-efficient standing Ikea desk made from book shelves on either side…
  • … and she even has room for a guest, as well as…
  • …a productive administrative space.
  • Catarina has intelligently taken over her kitchen for a multipurpose space…
  • …since kitchen counters are the perfect height for working while standing!
  • She has a separate clean administrative space for conducting research and writing reports…
  • … and of course bookbinding models in progress and Nag Hammadi codices!
  • Ashleigh’s home office also doubles as a guest room.
  • The guest room closet is retrofitted to hold bookbinding supplies.
  • A side table next to the bed doubles as another working surface…
  • …And empty dresser drawers are now filled with book parts.
  • Ashleigh also uses her dining room as a research library.
  • While her husband has taken over the front porch – many of our family members are also working from home.
  • Here, Chris is being assisted in constructing a cradle by his puppy Jillian.
  • And works in a separate room for administrative work.
  • Jessica has been hard at work at her cozy home bench.
  • Here, Jessica is in the process of cleaning a book spine…
  • …and in this photo she’s working on textblock paper repairs.
  • Kasie created a beautifully organized workspace this past weekend to hold her tools…
  • …her books and supplies…
  • And a spot to work with a view!
  • Hyacinth’s kitchen table setup is perfect for sewing music. Upsides: great natural light and proximity to coffee. Downside: too close to cookies!

To stay connected, we use iPads or laptops and have a Preservation Lab Microsoft Team set up for instant communication, video chat, and file sharing. VPN and Remote Access were also heroically provided in extremely short notice by UCL IT staff.

Our work from home projects range from online learning opportunities, research we wish we always had the time to do, report writing, model making, exhibit preparation from pre-cut materials prepared ahead of time, box making (from pre-measured books), and general collections treatment.

We also have a longer list of work-from-home-ideas should the pandemic sheltering last more than a few weeks. These include:

  • Professional organization committee work (such as AIC/MRCG/& OPC)
  • Disaster preparedness updating
  • Creating videos
  • Writing blogs
  • Updating procedures and guidelines
  • Preparing instructional materials
  • Curriculum creation for teaching
  • Fabricating book furniture for Gothic binding treatments
  • Making book futons
  • Constructing silk screens for washing
  • Organizing emails and photography files
  • Sierra (online catalog) record cleanup
  • Uploading reports to the Preservation Digital Resource Commons
  • Creating databases such as one to record exhibition lighting

…And more such as the list provided by Duke’s Preservation Lab Team:

For those interested in learning along with us, the lab’s short list of at-home professional development opportunities include the following FREE courses/webinars:

With so much evolving on a daily basis, remember to take a second to take care of your mental well-being. We recommend the following UC presentation on Seeking Well-Being: Self Compassion and Mindfulness as well as The Science of of Well-Being course offered by Yale.

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer – Special Collections Conservator (PLCH)