How do archivists package things? The battle of the boxes

84 pointsposted 12 hours ago
by bookofjoe

10 Comments

freosam

12 minutes ago

The horizontal vs vertical storage thing is interesting. I've often wondered what the rationale is with the difference, and it seems that it's cultural to a large extent.

One thing that wasn't covered, that sometimes matters for non-institutional collections, is that cardboard is thicker than plastic, and can add quite a lot to the number of boxes required for a given collection. Polyester or polypropylene sleeves (open at the top, and stored vertically, i.e. to allow gas exchange) can be as cheap and sometimes are a better option, at ~0.08 mm vs ~0.5 mm.

jhardy54

8 hours ago

I went into this hoping for a solution to my “how do I store all of my random stuff from having lots of projects and interested”, and while I enjoyed the article, I am shocked to report that my question was not answered.

Strange to imagine that I don’t have the exact same needs as archivists.

mattlondon

5 hours ago

Recently I had this question myself when trying to organise DIY materials and spare parts (for which I have a lot somehow). I ended up buying modular "Ivar" shelves from IKEA where shelves can be positioned every 2 cm or so as you need them, and you buy as many or as few shelves and uprights as you need.

I got about twenty ~25 litre clear plastic storage boxes (with lids! Very important to prevent dust etc) and set the shelf height to suit those. Things are roughly grouped into boxes with a big label on the outside ("screws", "adhesives", "electrical" etc).

I built a small ~1.25x0.5m worktop at hip-height next to the shelves so when I pull out a box I have somewhere right there to put it and reach in to get things (otherwise you need to put it on the floor which is a pain). Below the worktop I have some metal drawers that I use for hand tool storage. Finally I have a small plastic open tote toolbox with a handle so I can load that up with bits and pieces and hand tools etc when I am at the shelves/mothership, and easily carry them to wherever I need them.

The wooden shelves are handy as you can cut and modify them very easily so you can trivially customise them to the space you have. They're fairly sturdy when assembled and attached to a wall.

Not very sophisticated really but seems to be working well so far. Previously I was hunting through random cardboard boxes or bags ("I know I've got a foobar whatsit here somewhere!"), typically stacked on top of each other. I think not having things stacked has been the most useful thing - i.e. if you need box X, you just pull it out right away and don't have to unstack 4 precariously-balanced other boxes first only to find that the thing you thought was in the box at the bottom actually was not there and now you need to stack everything back up again then look in another battered Amazon cardboard box in another half-collapsed tower of boxes etc.

Good luck.

larsrc

38 minutes ago

Good system! Clear plastic boxes and labels are essential.

For projects in progress, I have started using ziplock bags that I label, so I don't have small collections of stuff constituting a project lying all over.

internet101010

4 hours ago

It really depends. For anything involving paper or metal the answer is mylar. Keep things out of direct sunlight at 70F and 30-50% humidity.

AstroJetson

7 hours ago

Me too. But I will pass on that transparent packing (boxes, bags, etc) is the way to go. I’ll pack smaller items in zip lock bags (they come in sizes from “snack” to 4 gallon) then they go in transparent boxes. It’s amazing that being able to see into makes finding thing so much faster. I’ve also found that hanging jewelry bags are awesome for parts storage in a closet. Good luck on your journey.

_VX3r

5 hours ago

Depends on what you are packaging. I have learned that books shouldn’t be packaged in plastic since they need to ‘breath’

tomjen3

3 hours ago

The article specifically says not to do that, as traps moisture.

tdeck

3 hours ago

> File folders should be manually squared off at the bottom to accommodate the thickness of the records within them. North American file folders generally come with an array of pre-scored lines for this purpose.

This is a revelation for me! Somehow I never noticed what these were for and have been using folders wrong my entire life.