Conservation, or how to deal with manky and weird stuff

The Heritage Service has some close links with a variety of other departments, not least with the Council’s Records Manager and Archivist, Craig Geddes.  Craig maintains the collection of council records and archives, as well as a number of private archives, at his store at Williamwood High School.  So when I was looking for training on conservation and packing of items for our volunteers, I knew just who to ask for help.  He kindly agreed to give a presentation about his work, and about caring for and handling of objects generally, so that we could put his advice into practice with the Maxton and Gibson collections that we are currently working through.  It was a very entertaining talk, where we marvelled at arcane technical terms like “manky” and ”weird stuff” …

In addition (and more seriously, of course), we picked up a lot of tips about looking after paper and photographic items, the correct kind of storage materials to use, and the practical steps we can take to ensure the objects and documents do not deteriorate.  Craig also outlined some possible future volunteering opportunities on his collections, particularly for the Barrhead Dean of Guild plans.  Lastly, did you know that gold staples would be a good inert substitute for regular staples?  Somehow I don’t think our project resources will stretch that far.