Connecting to Collections Care

Hello Erin,

Thank you for your question. Sounds like quite the project! I have never worked with blueprints before, but I know they have some unique qualities, so I reached out to get more information for you. I will do a bit of digging, too, and perhaps others from the community will share their insights as well.

Hope to have more for you soon,
Lisa

Hi Erin,
How you clean these will depend on how sturdy the paper is. Luisa's suggestions will work well. Be careful with compressed air- it may be too forceful on brittle paper. Only use non-buffered tissue and folders as Ron pointed out. The iron in the blueprints reacts with the buffering agents in most tissues and folders.

Samantha

Hi Erin,

I see you've had a few responses, which I hope you've found helpful. I don't have anything to add right now, but I wanted to check in with you and see how you are feeling about your path forward.

Luisa and Ron mentioned mold and how its presence will affect your options. Are you confident in identifying mold? It is easier under magnification if you have a loupe or microscope available. If you look closely and see the form is weblike, that's not a good sign. From your description, I am guessing that the mold will be dry, but if you encounter anything that is soft and smeary or damp and slimy, that's a red flag!

On that note, and to Cher's and Luisa's point about having a conservator take a look, you may have use of the Find a Professional conservator search tool if you would like to contact someone closer to you. It lets you search for conservators by specialty and geographic location. I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but for blueprints, I would select Photographic Materials.

Luisa mentioned air bulbs. If I am thinking of the same thing, they are often available at camera shops because they are used to blow dust off lenses. Very handy to have on hand!

I will let you know if I receive any further information. In the meanwhile, let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,
Lisa

Dear Erin,

I would like to recommend my book as a resource: "Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care"
<https://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Photoreproductions-Manual-Identification-Care/dp/1584562161/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=eleonore+kissel&qid=1685477906&sr=8-1>

as well as "Line, Shade and Shadow: The Fabrication and Preservation of Architectural Drawings" by Lois Olcott Price
<https://www.amazon.com/Line-Shade-Shadow-Preservation-Architectural/dp/1584562374>

Also, my and my colleagues' original paper in the AIC Book and Paper Annual on rehousing the Lord & Burnham collection at the New York Botanical Garden Library: <https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-05.html>

I agree with Cher on gentle dusting. If you do not have the facility/tools to know if the "dust" is in fact mold or mold spores, I recommend dusting the plans off carefully in a fume hood with a gentle draw of air or outdoors, while wearing a dust mask and gloves. Brush away from you, not towards. Mold sensitivity brought on by overexposure is a risk otherwise.

In our BPG article we describe a method for interleaving different types of plans with sheets of mylar to keep them from off gassing or staining their neighbors. From an archives standpoint, it is important to keep plans in their original grouping separated by the interleaving of mylar, inside of buffered folders. The methodology in our book is written for archives and libraries and historical societies that do not have access to sophisticated equipment, but want to make a basic plan for preservation and housing of essential architectural drawings and prints. We developed this methodology over a multi-year project to rehouse over 140,000 architectural plans at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York botanical Library in the Bronx.
<https://www.nybg.org/library/finding_guide/archv/lord_burnhamf.html>

Please contact me if you have any questions,

Erin Vigneau-Dimick
Executive Curator, SIUE University Museum
Edwardsville, IL
evignea@siue.edu

Dear Erin,

I would like to recommend my book as a resource: "Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care"
<https://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Photoreproductions-Manual-Identification-Care/dp/1584562161/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=eleonore+kissel&qid=1685477906&sr=8-1>

as well as "Line, Shade and Shadow: The Fabrication and Preservation of Architectural Drawings" by Lois Olcott Price
<https://www.amazon.com/Line-Shade-Shadow-Preservation-Architectural/dp/1584562374>

Also, my and my colleagues' original paper in the AIC Book and Paper Annual on rehousing the Lord & Burnham collection at the New York Botanical Garden Library: <https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-05.html>

I agree with Cher on gentle dusting. If you do not have the facility/tools to know if the "dust" is in fact mold or mold spores, I recommend dusting the plans off carefully in a fume hood with a gentle draw of air or outdoors, while wearing a dust mask and gloves. Brush away from you, not towards. Mold sensitivity brought on by overexposure is a risk otherwise.

In our BPG article we describe a method for interleaving different types of plans with sheets of mylar to keep them from off gassing or staining their neighbors. From an archives standpoint, it is important to keep plans in their original grouping separated by the interleaving of mylar, inside of buffered folders. The methodology in our book is written for archives and libraries and historical societies that do not have access to sophisticated equipment, but want to make a basic plan for preservation and housing of essential architectural drawings and prints. We developed this methodology over a multi-year project to rehouse over 140,000 architectural plans at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York botanical Library in the Bronx.
<https://www.nybg.org/library/finding_guide/archv/lord_burnhamf.html>

Please contact me if you have any questions,

Erin Vigneau-Dimick
Executive Curator, SIUE University Museum
Edwardsville, IL
evignea@siue.edu

Hi Erin-

For this I would recommend using the AIC Find a Professional Tool linked here: https://www.culturalheritage.org/about-conservation/find-a-conservator

Good luck!

Dear Erin,

I would like to recommend my book as a resource: "Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care"
<https://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Photoreproductions-Manual-Identification-Care/dp/1584562161/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=eleonore+kissel&qid=1685477906&sr=8-1>

as well as "Line, Shade and Shadow: The Fabrication and Preservation of Architectural Drawings" by Lois Olcott Price
<https://www.amazon.com/Line-Shade-Shadow-Preservation-Architectural/dp/1584562374>

Also, my and my colleagues' original paper in the AIC Book and Paper Annual on rehousing the Lord & Burnham collection at the New York Botanical Garden Library: <https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-05.html>

I agree with Cher on gentle dusting. If you do not have the facility/tools to know if the "dust" is in fact mold or mold spores, I recommend dusting the plans off carefully in a fume hood with a gentle draw of air or outdoors, while wearing a dust mask and gloves. Brush away from you, not towards. Mold sensitivity brought on by overexposure is a risk otherwise.

In our BPG article we describe a method for interleaving different types of plans with sheets of mylar to keep them from off gassing or staining their neighbors. From an archives standpoint, it is important to keep plans in their original grouping separated by the interleaving of mylar, inside of buffered folders. The methodology in our book is written for archives and libraries and historical societies that do not have access to sophisticated equipment, but want to make a basic plan for preservation and housing of essential architectural drawings and prints. We developed this methodology over a multi-year project to rehouse over 140,000 architectural plans at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York botanical Library in the Bronx.
<https://www.nybg.org/library/finding_guide/archv/lord_burnhamf.html>

Please contact me if you have any questions,

Erin Vigneau-Dimick
Executive Curator, SIUE University Museum
Edwardsville, IL
evignea@siue.edu

Dear Erin,

I would like to recommend my book as a resource: "Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care"
<https://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Photoreproductions-Manual-Identification-Care/dp/1584562161/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=eleonore+kissel&qid=1685477906&sr=8-1>

as well as "Line, Shade and Shadow: The Fabrication and Preservation of Architectural Drawings" by Lois Olcott Price
<https://www.amazon.com/Line-Shade-Shadow-Preservation-Architectural/dp/1584562374>

Also, my and my colleagues' original paper in the AIC Book and Paper Annual on rehousing the Lord & Burnham collection at the New York Botanical Garden Library: <https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-05.html>

I agree with Cher on gentle dusting. If you do not have the facility/tools to know if the "dust" is in fact mold or mold spores, I recommend dusting the plans off carefully in a fume hood with a gentle draw of air or outdoors, while wearing a dust mask and gloves. Brush away from you, not towards. Mold sensitivity brought on by overexposure is a risk otherwise.

In our BPG article we describe a method for interleaving different types of plans with sheets of mylar to keep them from off gassing or staining their neighbors. From an archives standpoint, it is important to keep plans in their original grouping separated by the interleaving of mylar, inside of buffered folders. The methodology in our book is written for archives and libraries and historical societies that do not have access to sophisticated equipment, but want to make a basic plan for preservation and housing of essential architectural drawings and prints. We developed this methodology over a multi-year project to rehouse over 140,000 architectural plans at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York botanical Library in the Bronx.
<https://www.nybg.org/library/finding_guide/archv/lord_burnhamf.html>

Please contact me if you have any questions,

Erin Vigneau-Dimick
Executive Curator, SIUE University Museum
Edwardsville, IL
evignea@siue.edu

Dear Erin,

I would like to recommend my book as a resource: "Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care"
<https://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Photoreproductions-Manual-Identification-Care/dp/1584562161/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=eleonore+kissel&qid=1685477906&sr=8-1>

as well as "Line, Shade and Shadow: The Fabrication and Preservation of Architectural Drawings" by Lois Olcott Price
<https://www.amazon.com/Line-Shade-Shadow-Preservation-Architectural/dp/1584562374>

Also, my and my colleagues' original paper in the AIC Book and Paper Annual on rehousing the Lord & Burnham collection at the New York Botanical Garden Library: <https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-05.html>

I agree with Cher on gentle dusting. If you do not have the facility/tools to know if the "dust" is in fact mold or mold spores, I recommend dusting the plans off carefully in a fume hood with a gentle draw of air or outdoors, while wearing a dust mask and gloves. Brush away from you, not towards. Mold sensitivity brought on by overexposure is a risk otherwise.

In our BPG article we describe a method for interleaving different types of plans with sheets of mylar to keep them from off gassing or staining their neighbors. From an archives standpoint, it is important to keep plans in their original grouping separated by the interleaving of mylar, inside of buffered folders. The methodology in our book is written for archives and libraries and historical societies that do not have access to sophisticated equipment, but want to make a basic plan for preservation and housing of essential architectural drawings and prints. We developed this methodology over a multi-year project to rehouse over 140,000 architectural plans at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York botanical Library in the Bronx.
<https://www.nybg.org/library/finding_guide/archv/lord_burnhamf.html>

Please contact me if you have any questions,

Erin Vigneau-Dimick
Executive Curator, SIUE University Museum
Edwardsville, IL
evignea@siue.edu