My Mother-in-Law's Mouse

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely peaceful and relaxing holiday season.

Like the topic of the last blog, this one also "came" to me - not in the form of a hurricane this time, but in the form of a mouse. Or rather, the signs left behind that a mouse had been visiting. Yup, it's well into that time of year where the little critters seek a warmer home hopefully with the added benefits of a food source. So while I was gazing critically at the well-formed tunnel that the mouse had left through my mother-in-law's loaf of homemade bread, I thought of what I would have done, PREVENTIVELY, if it had been my home. (And no, I didn't say so out loud, I know better...)

While mice in your home will likely go to food sources rather than your collection of photographs or books, there are many other pests that will; silverfish, firebrats, and booklice, for example. These and other pests feed on a variety of archival and library items - binding materials (particularly the adhesives), paper sizing (especially glossy paper), cellulose (i.e. paper and cardboard) and proteins (i.e. parchment and leather). And if eating it isn't enough, collections are also damaged by the tunnelling and nesting activities, and secretions from these insects. Since the majority is attracted to the tight, dark places (like most storage areas) and since most holed-away items are handled infrequently, significant damage may occur long before being discovered. So for this blog, we'll talk about what to do preventively in the case of both rodents and pests, as the preventive measures are generally the same for both.

So what do we do? In the big archival world, we practice a strategy called Integrated Pest Management (IPM). In a nutshell, it is a Preventive approach that relies mostly on non-chemical means to preventing and managing infestations, such as controlling climate, food sources, and building entry points. Because chemical treatments generally can cause long and short term health problems (from nausea and headaches to cancer), the non-chemical approach to controlling pests is an obvious preferable choice.

So, short of getting a cat and putting out poison that will inevitably make said cat sick, there are several simple preventive measures you can take in protecting the more pest-prone materials in your collection. First, knowing what is attractive to them - most obvious is human food waste and stored food, but there are many other less obvious food sources; leather, wool, human dander, other insects, debris, for example. So, it is clear that the first step must be to eliminate or sequester sources of food (hark! there's that tupperware word again...) and strongly emphasize good housekeeping.

Secondly, how are they getting into your home? Inadequately sealed windows and doors, windows and doors that are left open routinely, cracks and crevices in walls or foundations, openings around pipes, and vents/air ducts can all provide entry for rodents and insects. Not only would addressing building issues, like fixing cracks and bad seals, be better for your home (and wallet), it would help keep the pests moving along to somewhere easier to access. Also, think about 'layers of protection' - if the outside layer isn't working (i.e. the building), add an inside layer to your special collection, in the form of cabinets, boxes, and enclosures.

Third, what kind of home do the pests like? In sum, a warm and damp one. This one is easy - paper-based collections should NOT be stored in warm and damp conditions in the first place!! Mould! So keep your important things stored in a relatively cool, dry area.

Lastly, insects can also be brought into the home in books and papers themselves - if you're one to collect books and hooked rugs at yard sales for example, check the items and the boxes they were brought in before bringing them into the house. As an added preventive measure, treatment through controlled freezing could also be done (this one you should call for more information on first though, please!!).

For the sake of keeping this blog a blog and not a full-on report, the preventive recommendations given are general and the most ideal. Without appearing flippant again, I realize full well through my experiences that sometimes it's not that easy to provide the most ideal building or environment and that sometimes you do have to store those books in the damp and warm basement. That's why I'm here - I encourage you to call/write to ANLA for more information on what you can do in those particular situations. As easily as I could put down these preventive measures, there are simple and cost-effective solutions to your particular storage situation. So start calling!

Hello again ANLA members! For those of you who did not know, I'm back as ANLA's Preservation Advisor for the Fall 2010 - Winter 2011, and I must say it's great to be back again! This is also my first blog, so ANLA's not the only one moving into the 21st century...Please take this opportunity to bring forward those preservation questions, concerns, or simple curiosities you may have surrounding your archival collection. You can reach me via the ANLA office and I'll be sure to get back to you individually. In the meantime, I'll be using this blog as an opportunity to discuss the preservation issues you bring to me, and others that I feel are relevant to ANLA members.

So I was given the task of posting my first blog and after pondering what I'd talk about, it came to me rather naturally. To be precise, Hurricane Igor brought forth my first topic of discussion. Yes, disasters. Or disaster preparedness to be more precise. The other day while on a personal visit to Igor-stricken Bonavista, a friend brought up the commonly-posed challenge to me, and borne was my first blog. Here's the gist of the conversation:

"My stuff got wet in the basement, my photos and albums and family memorabilia. It's all ruined"
"Maybe to be on the safe side for next time, move that important stuff upstairs to where floods would happen last. And keep in mind that they may not be ruined to the point where we can't save them for you"
"I don't have the space"
"Maybe putting them in tupperwares would help?"
"My buddy used tupperwares and they tipped over and water got in. Really now, in the end, there's really nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, is there?...you say you can save the wet stuff?!".

To be fair and not to appear flippant, Igor hit many households severely and one can really sympathize with the general feelings of pessimism that it generated post-storm. And no one wants to hear my Pollyanna talk on "trying our hardest" when they're rummaging through the remains of their house and life-long work. My object in bringing up that discussion is to say, yes, you're right, we cannot prevent natural disasters from happening. HOWEVER, we can TRY and MINIMIZE the impact that the disaster will have on our collections and personal belongings, for the next time. No one is really going to take the time to think of these things while a disaster is happening. Nor should they when families and homes come first. So let's try and make this easier on ourselves, and think PREVENTIVE. The sum of a few simple acts will make a huge difference in the end, like prioritizing what's most important to us (e.g. those precious photographs, the love letters, your favorite book), making space for those important things, giving them plastic containers if they have to stay in the basement, and putting the containers on shelves (so they don't tip over!) as a starting point.

And to continue to be fair, no, my friend didn't know that "wet stuff" can potentially be saved or to whom she should go to for that help. So here it is and my apparent next task - to let others know of these few simple acts, to let others know who is out there to help, and to help facilitate this network of information. I'll be posting some more preventive measures through this blog each month, as well as the "what-to-do-if's" that follow the unpredictable, like the "wet stuff". Keep posted to the ANLA website as we develop an Emergency Response Contact directory of people who can help with advice and response in your area. In the meantime, think about and prioritize the "important" items in your collection or personal belongings. Then the first step will be taken care of...

Regards,
Miki
Preservation Advisor

Upcoming at ANLA

Organizational Development Workshop

In conjunction with our 2010 AGM, ANLA presents an Organizational Development Workshop
This 1 ½ day workshop uses the techniques explored in our recent Strategic Planning workshop (November 2009) to address development planning for a specific organization – our own! Facilitator Kerri Button, Executive Director of the Association of Heritage Industries, will take us through the planning and development process.
Participants are encouraged to contribute to the discussions, which will direct our organization for the next 3-5 years.
Registration deadline: Participants must register for this course by June 8, 2010.
This workshop is free of charge!
Some financial assistance for transportation costs is available for members: please contact the ANLA office for more information.

Annual General Meeting and Luncheon, June 18, 2010

The Annual General Meeting and Luncheon for the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives will be held at The Rooms Theatre (2nd floor) commencing at 9:00 a.m. Permits for all day free parking are available at The Rooms reception desk.
Payment of membership fees for 2010-2011 welcomed.
What’s on the schedule:
Morning:
8:30 – 9 a.m. Coffee
9 – 12 noon: Business meeting
Review of By-laws
Election of officers
Luncheon: 12:30 pm – 2 p.m. Cost to members: $20.00 RSVP required – please contact the ANLA office by June 9 if you wish to attend the luncheon.
Menu: Executive Sandwich Board – A variety of sandwiches made with the finest of cold cuts and fillings, served on fresh home-baked bread and baguette. Accompanied by soup and Market Garden Salad. Followed by fresh baked cookies, assorted desserts, with coffee and tea.
2 - 4:30 p.m. Conclusion of organizational development exercise

One more question ....

Does anyone have a photograph of a tally board? I'd love to have it for the blog!

Just some housekeeping stuff

You need an account with Google, LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM or OpenID to comment. If you already have a Google account, you can use that email to access the blog comment function. Google accounts are free and, from my experience, trouble free. You can sign up from the Google home page. You can also sign up on the blogsite itself -- click on the "sign in" linl and follow the instructions.

I'll be posting some policies about comments in the next couple of days.

Mary Ellen

Welcome to ANLA's new blog!

Here in the ANLA office we have decided to move into the 21st century. The hope for this blog is that it will allow us to be more interactive with our members -- you can post too! or you can ask me to post.

I'm sure that you are all wondering about the name of our blog -- perhaps you think that a tally board doesn't sound very archival. I wanted a name that referred to archives or archival functions, but I wanted something with specific relevance to Newfoundland and Labrador. In these situations I usually turn to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. References to archives, documents or records any kind are, I'm afraid, pretty rare in our vernacular tongue, but I did find this:

tally 1 In keeping account of the number of seal pelts, dried cod, etc, being handled, the last of a sequence of numbers, esp five, forming a single group.
[c1830] 1890 GOSSE 58 One of the crew that has climbed up begins to lay [the seal pelts] one by one, fur downward, on the barrow; singing out, as he lays down each, 'One-two-three-four-tally,' I at each one making a mark on my paper ... instead of the word 'five,' the word 'tally' is used, for then I am to make a diagonal line across the four marks, and this formula is called 'a tally.' 1924 ENGLAND 275 ... For each tub [of fish] salted a stroke would be marked on the stage wall. When five tubs had been dipped out, this would warrant a tally. You would then hear two or three men sing out at the same time. 'Tally.' C 71-130 When it came time to 'take up' the potatoes, [he] always prepared to keep tally. As each bucket of potatoes was brought to the cellar door he would make a stroke with a pencil on a piece of paper or on a board. Four parallel strokes would be crossed with a fifth stroke.
2 Cpd, comb: tally board: (a) plank or wooden table on which dried cod-fish are placed for counting and grading', CULLING BOARD (P 40-78); (b) flat board on which the count of fish caught by a Bank fisherman is marked (P 2-82)

That sounds like a record, doesn't it? As we know, records come in many formats -- textual records, photos, maps, sound recordings, video, trophies and medals, annotated books, electronic records -- this is just one more form (although whether a tally board would have enough administrative, fiscal, legal, intrinsic, evidential, and/or informational value to justify its preservation might be a good question for an appraisal exercise -- what do you think?)

At any rate, here I am, recording the first tally of archival activity on our board.

What will you see here? Well, I will be posting the usual notices and local archival news ( don't worry -- you will still get email!), but you will also see snippits of national and international archival news from listservs and blogs, short reviews of books, articles and archival tools -- and maybe a bit of archival sermonizing from time to time. My intention is to post at least one entry a week -- more if the spirit moves me. You can tally too! (comments will be moderated)

Regards,

Mary Ellen