Since my last post, I’ve been primarily working with the same major project as I mentioned before among other smaller things.The cataloging, conditioning, and process of moving the collection of O. Winston Link negatives into cold storage has progressed smoothly for the most part, with minor hiccups so far. In order to properly package and store the boxes of negatives into cold storage, it requires careful packing and materials specific to archival work.
The first step is packing the box completely with Ethafoam, so that no air can escape. Then, the box must be very tightly wrapped in a barrier film bag, followed by a static shielding bag. This ensures that moisture doesn’t enter the package, causing issues with the humidity level.
Above is an example of a completed box ready to enter cold storage. However, there was a problem that arose with this process. After being stored for longer than 24 hours, the humidity identifier card on the bottom right rose to an improper humidity. So, and it’s fairly evident just from the picture, the package was not packed tightly enough. The next step will be to un-wrap the boxes and work with new ways to wrap it so that the humidity remains at an acceptable level.
Other than the main cold storage project, I’ve also continued cataloging and conditioning the collection of O. Winston Link negatives, and am now over half way through about 2,300 individual photos. The most common problem, if any, on any given negative is discoloration. This manifests usually as fading around the edges in minor cases, to a completely faded and un-distinguishable picture in more serious cases. Below is a picture of my favorite tool used to assess the condition of negatives, the light box. It creates much better visibility to examine negatives.
Also, my museum work so far hasn’t been limited to archival related activities! The gift shop within the museum recently got a face-lift and rearranging in which I helped assemble and place some new furniture and items. This is just another task that pertains to museum work, as there’s a lot of minor tasks that go into making sure the museum experience is satisfying for every visitor. The shelving unit below is an example of one of the new pieces going into the gift shop that was (painstakingly) assembled by staff, volunteers, and myself.
