Making Sense of Archival Supplies - File Folders

                     File folders are an important resource for the protection of paper because they provide support to prevent folding, wrinkling, and curling.  In addition they provide the means to organize a collection into manageable amounts of related material.  Ordering file folders is reasonably straightforward.  You have to decide whether you want legal or letter size (We talked about that last time) with the tab reinforced or not, and placement of the tab.  (I like reinforced tabs myself, but that is a subjective choice.) You can have a choice of color between cream, white, or tan.  Make sure that the folders are acid and lignin free and buffered with calcium carbonate.  You can find this in the specifications.  File folders also are scored around the fold so that they are expandable.  You have your choice of how wide you need the folder to expand.  I think the widest has 5 scores.  In order to keep papers from bowing, you need to make sure you haven’t stuffed too much in one folder.  It’s okay to have “a” and “b” folders or 1 of 2, 2 of 2 if you need to in order to keep the file a reasonable size.  File folders also come in different weights – 10pt or the heavier 20pt.  I have only used the 10pt.  It has been sturdy enough for my collections.

                        What else will you need?  Well if you have very acidic paper you should consider interweaving it with either acid free interweaving paper or archival bond paper. (Paper made from a percentage of cotton rag and buffered with calcium carbonate.)   That will help retard the migration of acid from one paper to another.  I think I’ve mentioned that before.  Also the supply houses sell archival labels that use acid free glue.  Otherwise you should label the file folders in pencil.  Don’t use labels from places like Office Depot.  They are not archival and will eventually cause acid damage.

                        What about odd sized papers?  The archival houses offer boxes in various sizes.  Your goal  with that type of material is to eliminate any folds.  Folds weaken the paper and will eventually tear.  Besides flat boxes another option is to roll large material like maps or posters and store them in archival canisters.  That also eliminates folds and will not damage the material.  You will have to flatten the rolled material to use it, but that’s a discussion for another day.  Sometimes simply putting weights on the corners and leaving it for a time will provide all the straightening that is necessary.

Next time – Photograph sleeves