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- NARA’s Preservation Conference is this Friday! We’d love to see you there! Details are here: http://www.archives.gov/preservation/conferences/2012/
We’ll be tweeting throughout the conference. You can follow Preservation at NARA on Twitter: @archivespres. Please join the Preservation Conference conversation on Twitter using #Preservation2012. - RecommendationsSee All
- Carol Hoose BrotzmanDon't forget to research here tooabout 8 months ago
- Auctionbay OutletWhat would we do without our recordkeeping system? We preserve so many important documents like the Magna Carta and US Constitution...it is very important. The National Archives is all this and MUCH, MUCH more like the presidential libraries, our national IT, preservation of the Arts...about 8 months ago
- Tim ManningHistory must be preserved...about 9 months ago
- Jaci SpuhlerGreat preservation informationabout 11 months ago
- On October 19th at 7:00 p.m. in the McGowan Theater NARA will be holding a panel discussion - Preserving Grain, Presenting Pixels: Film Preservation and Restoration in the Digital Age
In 2007, the Academy’s Science and Technology Council released their landmark study, The Digital Dilemma. Five years later, archival institutions and film industry continue to address the “digital dilemma” when faci...ng the task of preserving and restoring our motion picture history. A panel including Josef Linder, Preservation Officer for the Academy Film Archive, and Criss Kovac and Bryce Lowe, Motion Picture Preservation Specialists at the National Archives, will discuss this important issue and present examples from their latest projects. This program is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in partnership with the Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives.See More - LikesSee All
- Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick GalleryMuseum · Art Gallery
- Although Allison doesn’t work as much in the labs as she used to, she fondly recalls using the suction table. She explained that the suction draws liquid down quickly, preventing tide lines and helping wet materials dry flat. Allison muse...d that changing technology allows professionals to conserve objects and documents more effectively.See More
Treating historic documents has always been a highlight of Allison’s work. She particularly enjoyed working with Gail Harriman to conserve a volume of the “Rough Journals,” the original notes from the Continental Congress. - Sometimes the oldest technology is the best! The Motion Picture Preservation Lab used this Model J printer from the 1930s to print new polyester preservation elements from deteriorating films in the Truman Library's Screen Gems Collection. ...Because the printer runs at a relatively slow speed, it is gentle on fragile films. For scratched film originals, the lab also used a newer wet-gate printer to minimize the appearance of scratches.See More
- Don’t forget that NARA’s Preservation Conference is coming up!
This year’s topic is “2012 A Preservation Odyssey: Paths to the Future”. The conference will be held on Friday, October 19, 2012 at the William McGowan Theater, National Archives Building, 7th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.
More information is here: http://www.archives.gov/preservation/conferences/2012/ - We recently asked our Preservation Officer, Allison Olson, about her role at NARA:
As a Preservation Officer, Allison helps coordinate Preservation Programs’ part in the National Archive’s Holdings Management System (HMS), a database for ma...naging the physical records, including their location and conservation work, in NARA’s archival facilities (except the Presidential Libraries). Allison is also helping launch an online database to collect environmental data from all NARA storage spaces.See More
In addition to her other work, Allison chairs the Preservation Outreach Committee. She helped organize Preservation Programs’ fantastic EXPO last March and is busy preparing for NARA’s 26th Annual Preservation Conference (October 19, 2012) as the chair of the Program Committee. - While the Truman picture elements in the Motion Picture Preservation Lab are in better shape than the magnetic soundtracks, we still sometimes find very visible signs of deterioration. Some types of film splicing tape used in the past react...with film emulsion over time, causing discoloration. We remove harmful tape, clean off the residue, and resplice the film using more stable tape. Though we can't remove the discoloration, it will be much less evident when the film is reprinted to new black and white polyester film stock.See More
- A National Archives treasure is on loan to the National Portrait Gallery. The Treaty of Ghent (ratified American Original, TS 109) is exhibited in the NPG’s current show, “1812: A Nation Emerges.” NARA conservators have requested that lig...ht levels on the Treaty be kept to a minimum during the exhibit in order to extend the life of this document. This bound Treaty will be displayed open from June 15, 2012 through January 27, 2013. However, midway into the show a conservator will turn a page in the Treaty to reveal a new opening. This practice further reduces the risk of damage from light. Here you can see the pages of the Treaty currently on display.See More
- Staff at the National Archives at St. Louis have been working on a new project preserving and reformatting Air Force Flying Time Records. These microfiche sheets record the flying time of Air Force personnel from 1973 to 1998. Learn more about the project on our Tumblr site: http://preservearchives.tumblr.com/.
- In the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, we regularly encounter vinegar syndrome and film shrinkage, but many of the magnetic soundtracks encountered during our Truman project proved extra challenging. Some of the reels curled up as soon as ...they were unspooled, making them difficult to handle or transfer. Another indicator of deterioration is the plasticizer that has leached from the cellulose acetate base and is visible on the film surface.See More
- To observe the 150th anniversary of the Preliminary Emancipation and its exhibition Sept 21-24 at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the document came to conservation for examination and treatment....A NARA senior conservator completed conservation treatment including careful surface cleaning of the pages to reduce ingrained grime, reduction of adhesive residues from old repairs, and reinforcing previously-repaired tears and creases.See More
- President Lincoln drafted an emancipation proclamation in July 1862. He delayed issuing it till the Union had a military victory. On Sept 22, 1862, after the victory at the Battle of Antietam, he signed the Preliminary Emancipation Procla...mation. It warned rebel forces that if they did not surrender and rejoin the Union in 100 days, then all slaves in the rebellious states would be freed. Once it was clear that the South would not surrender, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation Jan 1, 1863.See More
- The National Archives Displays the “Fifth Page” of the U.S. Constitution for the First Time. Check out the press release and a video that describes the document's conservation here:
http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2012/nr12-161.html - ActivityOctoberPeople Who Like This19