Safe Handling of Materials
I. Basic
II. Books
III. Photographs
IV. Paper

I. BASIC

• Food and drink are not permitted in the scanning workspace
• Wash hands regularly to ensure that they are clean at all times. Hands must be clean and free of any substance (food, ink, lotion, tobacco, etc.) that could stain or damage collection materials.
• Never use collection items as a workspace. Nothing should be placed on top of materials or their containers. Resting or leaning on, sitting on, or otherwise exerting pressure on records or their containers is prohibited.
• Only pencils may be used near collections materials.
• Records or their containers must never be placed on the floor. They must remain on tables, carts or work surfaces
• Be mindful and protect items from excessive light exposure by keeping records covered or in closed boxes or folders when not in use.
• Have sufficient amount of workspace cleared to safely handle all steps in the procedure.
• Be observant and use common sense

Handling

• Records should not be dragged across other records or surfaces (such as tables or equipment) that might abrade them.
• When in doubt of the proper handling procedure - contact the conservator or preservation administrator. The scanning technician should report any items which in his or her judgment cannot be safely digitized and seek further guidance from the conservator or preservation administrator.
• Make sure items are fully supported at all times
• Transfer loose papers supported in their folders
• Large, flat items must be adequately supported over the entire dimension of the object by placing an acid free board or other appropriate support material under the object when moving it from the folder to the scanner.
• Delicate, fragile or large items should not be grasped by one hand or lifted by one edge or corner.

Equipment

• Clean the platen at the beginning and end of each session and anytime it appears dirty.  Use a soft cloth and follow manufacturer's instructions.
  
• Equipment platens or copy stands must be the same size or larger than the records. No part of the record may overhang the platen or copy stand.

II. BOOKS

• Books should be opened carefully to avoid an acute opening.
• Support the sides of books that appear to have weak bindings.
• Use a book support to hold a book at an appropriate opening angle during digitization. Be aware that the appropriate opening angle can change if the book is open to the front, middle or back. If digitizing a book from beginning to end the book supports will need to be adjusted to accommodate the shift of the text.
• Do not wet your fingers to turn pages
• Do not force a spine open or apply hard or abrupt pressure to pages to open
• When scanning fragile, delicate or large books, turn the pages by lifting the upper corner and then support the page with your whole hand to turn it.

III. PHOTOGRAPHS

• When scanning photographs clean white cotton, nylon, un-powdered latex, or vinyl gloves must be worn to avoid damaging the object.
• Handle photographs by the edges.
• Do not touch photographic emulsions
• Do not continue to digitize any negatives that have emulsion lifting from their base, or damaged negatives that may sustain further damage during digitization.
• Negatives should be returned to their envelopes with the emulsion side away from the glued seam.
• Glass plate negatives
• Due to the possible presence of hair line fractures and planar distortions in glass plate negatives do not apply pressure to the negative as it may result in breakage. (For example: When scanning on a flatbed scanner, lightly place the lid down and do not hold or press down with your hand.)
• Do not hold the negatives more than 6 inches above hard surfaces. (For example: Do not raise the negative in the air to view under a ceiling light. Instead, use a light box to view the negative.)

IV. PAPER

• Transfer loose fragile papers supported in their folders.
• Large, flat items must be adequately supported over the entire dimension of the object by placing an acid free board or other appropriate support material under the object when moving it from the folder to the scanner.
• Use the corner of a spare piece of paper inserted under the edge of a single manuscript sheet to lift it up from a flat surface.

05-22-08 Lauren Telepak, Conservation Intern