Conservation

The Manuscript Division’s conservation liaison, in consultation with manuscript specialists and with conservators from the Preservation Directorate’s Conservation Division, identifies collection materials in need of conservation and recommends specific items for prioritized treatment.

Each year, treatments of individual manuscript items and large scale rehousing projects are carried out by the Conservation Division’s team of conservators.

Conservators also sometimes examine documents for historical reasons. They may lend their expertise to help determine questions of physical origin, including what means and materials were used to create a printed or manuscript item, or in what era certain elements in a document might have been produced.

All Manuscript Division materials slated for exhibition are subject to conservation review, during which time each item on an exhibition list is examined to determine its specific conservation and exhibition display needs.

During these reviews, the conservator considers the exhibition history of items requested for display. She stipulates whether an object is in condition to be loaned and if so, the proper display support needed (such as a mat or backboard), the permissible light exposure levels, the length of display time to be allowed, and any special needs regarding how an item must be conveyed.. Documents are sometimes specially matted for exhibitions, and if a bound item is going on exhibit, it will be measured for a custom cradle. Further conservation may await loaned items upon their return to the Library’s collections.