GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

Five years after the closure of the file (i.e. after the end of the project) the
whole file is reviewed for relevance and may be discarded; the review
normally being done by the people who generated the file.
If retained, the file is kept for 25 years after its opening date and reviewed
with the involvement of an archivist. The whole file may be discarded at this
stage.
If retained, the file becomes a public record archive, and it will be about 30
years old, and must remain intact in perpetuity.
A basic principle is that files are kept complete or not at all. The pruning of files
is bad practice for all sorts of reasons, leading to incomplete archives.
In this section the Guidelines covers 'Papers' (C3.8.1), in which are included
books, true archives and manuscripts, maps and prints, and 'Photographic
Materials' (C3.8.2).
Advice and information can be obtained from (full addresses in Appendix 2B):
British Library, Reference Division;
Public Record Office,
India Office Library and Records,
any County or City Records Office,
Eastman Kodak Co., for storage and preservation of microfilm or other film.
3.8.1. Papers
Most collections of geological specimens will have with them, or in time will
gather about them, related collections of books, archives (both official and
private), maps, film and, nowadays, even video and optical discs. Many of these
records will be valuable and call for special, often expert, attention. Since this is a
subject which tends to lie either outside or on the fringe of curatorial expertise
(despite its importance) we treat it more fully than some sections.
The ideal climatic conditions in which to store books and documents are a
steady temperature between 13°C (55°F) and 18°C (65°F) and a steady relative
humidity between 55% and 65% (it may be as low as 50% if parchment or vellum
is not present). There should also be constant air circulation. Such conditions are
rarely attainable and it is often necessary to find a good compromise between
what is needed and what can be achieved with the resources available. In the
storage and use of books and documents the following points should be borne in
mind:
What books and documents are made of and how intrinscially they are liable
to deteriorate. Some papers contain residual chemicals from the manufacturing
process (such as alum), or unstable components of the raw material (such
as lignin), which will make those papers prone to rapid deterioration.
What the enemies of the materials are in terms of:
(a) Physical and mechanical damage, e.g. when a book is dropped, not
propertly supported, or wrongly removed from the shelf. Physical
damage will also result from an excessively dry atmosphere, e.g.
parchment will cockle, the covers of a book will curve or warp and paper
will become brittle.
(b) Biological enemies e.g. insects, micro-organisms (many of which like