The home of the new Baldwin archive is a climate-controlled building ideal for preservation of paper and wood artifacts. Acid-free containers will be used to create a proper acid-Ph balance, which will stabilize paper. (When paper browns, the acids in the paper are breaking down the cellulose within the paper.) Scans of artifacts will be available at nominal fees as documents are digitally rendered and stored for government and private access. There is a catalog process under construction for records in Baldwin, but the Records Disposition Authority (RDA) controls the process. Jackson estimates that the scanning and indexing of documents will take one to five years to complete. To augment its private papers, the archive will accept long-term artifact loans and will scan them as well.
The goal of a Baldwin archive is to develop a comprehensive history of Baldwin County. “Baldwin County has a history that embraces prehistoric Native American, historic Native American, Spanish, French, English, and American components. The data base now in construction in our Baldwin archive will serve genealogists, lawyers, history researches, and concerned citizens,” Jackson noted.
There are a variety of obstacles to preservation of artifacts. When it comes to papers and books, the paper material itself is a problem. The greater the acidic load in the paper, the greater the likelihood that artifact will deteriorate. Environmental concerns like heat, humidity, light, and mold are all deterioration issues. The “Katrina Cough” experienced by workers in post-Katrina moldy buildings is caused by the same mold, which may grow in books. It can be controlled by simple vacuuming. Paper artifacts can be frozen, and then vacuumed more easily. Afterwards these treasures need to have a stable environment, particularly to avoid expansion and contraction cycles related to both heat and moisture.
Photos are essentially layers of chemicals. Chemicals deteriorate which we see as a fading, particularly of color photos. To preserve them, light and moisture need to be limited. In addition, if photos are on display, they should be rotated to limit exposure to light and heat. Photos may be encapsulated to keep oxygen, and hence, deterioration out, but sometimes the very chemistry of a plastic may reap its own toll on the very photos to be preserved.
To preserve wood and clothing, the focus is on maintaining a stable environment. A 50% humidity goal with a constant temperature and limited light will stabilize wood and textiles.
This archive building in Bay Minette is in the process of preparing a disaster plan. Vital records like meeting minutes, contracts, fiscal records, tax records, deeds, personnel records, etc., have been identified. The archive building has a back-up energy plan to keep the environment constant if a natural disaster should strike.
Individual households can learn from Baldwin County when it comes to disaster planning. We need to identify our vital records and many of these things will parallel what Baldwin has done. For many of us, vital documents will include photos and family heirlooms. If disaster hits, we need a strategy for preservation. Plastic containers may be a reasonable, temporary storage plan, particularly when you consider that they will float in a flood, particularly if they are placed on top of beds or tables when exiting the county during a mandatory evacuation. And given room, our household valuables may be portable if placed within the right containers. But we need to know what to put in them.
Archivist Jackson plans to implement “How To” Seminars in 2006, which will detail for the citizens of Baldwin how to repair, care for, and preserve our valuable artifacts. These classes will be “hands on.”
John Jackson is with the Baldwin County Department of Archives and History. His charge is discovering and maintaining our County’s past. His background includes time in Auburn’s History Doctorate program, a Masters in Library and Information Studies. He will oversee completion of Baldwin’s state-of-the-art 7500 square foot archive facility in Bay Minette. He is beginning to focus on a Scenic Byway designation for a northern portion of the county, the 2009 bicentennial celebration, and assistance with the numerous museums that dot the county. His long-term projects include scanning of maps and documents for access on the County’s website, employment and instruction of archivist interns from the University of South Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of Alabama, and indexing existing county documents.
Information concerning Jackson’s work is in the development state, but he may be reached at jjackson@co.baldwin.al.us or at phone (251)580-1897.
