The whole publication in PDF - Culture in Development

Preparedness – Natural Disasters – Earthquakes). The NAA (National Archives of Australia) recently developed
guidelines for mobile shelving (NAA, 1997).
For some experiences, mainly in the West, with different archival shelving systems see Atlanti (International
Institute for Archival Science, Maribor), 1993.
5.6 Handling
It is now recognised that poor handling of books and records by staff and users in archives is one of the greatest
threats to their well-being. Every time a book or document is taken out of storage, manipulated by hand, exposed
to light or to a different environment, some damage occurs to it. On the other hand, archive collections are preserved
in order to be used. A proper policy on handling, by both staff and users, is necessary (MacKenzie, 1996).
In western librarianship rare and valuable books are treated with special care. These rare books and manuscripts
are often housed in Special Collections and different standards for ethical conduct are even developed for such books
(American Library A ssociation, 1993), (see also Datta, 1969). This is not so in most non-western countries. In many
libraries every book is rare and valuable. It has been purchased with financial resources that are scarce and
diminishing in value and amount. Usually it has been imported from abroad, taking a number of months to arrive.
If it wears out, there are no funds to replace it. There are no funds to buy materials to repair it. There is little to repair
it with. There is little expertise to repair it. Each book is being used more, as the rate of acquisition slows down,
because of the lack of money. Users have not grown up with books and their living conditions do not make it easy
for them to care for the books they borrow. T he librarian’s chief concern is to keep every book in circulation for as
long as possible and at no extra cost to the library. Conservation spending must not be put before money spent on
staff. In such a situation, the care and attention paid to the handling of books brings dividends in slowing down the
inevitable damage caused by wear and tear. It was this experience at the University of Juba that gave Diana
Rosenberg the conviction that everyday care of library boo ks should be given special emphasis in any preservation
measure taken by an African library (Rosenberg, 1995).
This realistic account certainly brings conservation in developing countries into perspective and justly stresses
the importance of proper handling of library and archival materials. Every day care, Diana Rosenberg continues,
is one aspect of preservation and enco mpasses all measures that are taken to improve the physical handling that takes
place each and every day as books circulate amongst the library users. It involves both actors (library staff and users)
and activities (cleaning, shelving, use, photocopying and minor repairs). Diana Rosenberg ends her interesting
lecture with some guidelines and checklists that might provide a base for any library deciding to review its every
day book care measures. Proper handling techniques do not demand a high-tech approach, nor do they pose a threat
to people or the environment. Every day care does require discipline on a continuing basis (Bellard o, 1995 ; Dartnall,
1988).
Next to handling, proper display is highly important for safeguarding artefacts. Again, the fluctuations in
temperature and relative humidity are crucial. High altitude Quito, Ecuador has a near perfect climate; dry and cool,
with a low atmospheric pressure. Such conditions are wonderful for preserving books and manuscripts. Here, apart
from some problems with insects, masses of documents collected by religious orders and the Spanish colonial
administration remained in good condition for centuries. In recent times, however, inappropriate display in modern
gallery and library buildings elsewhere has caused rapid disintegration of some of these collections (Giese, 1995).
For general information on handling see Agebunde, 1984; Forde, 1991; Tlalanyane, 1989.
5.7 Packaging
5.7.1 Boxes
In western archives it is now generally accepted that all record materials other than bound volumes should be placed
in some form of secondary enclosure. This protects the items from dust and dirt, allows them to be transpo rted safely
and is the first line of defence in the event of fire and flood. It can also help even out fluctuations in temperature and
humidity, producing in effect a microclimate around the item (MacKenzie, 1996), (see also Coremans, 1968). The
cheapest and most effective way of providing a reasonable measure of protection against all kind of hazards for all
records (including bound volumes) is to put them in boxes (Thomas, 1987).
In antiquity people usually stored their documents and books in some kind of casing. Egyptians, Greeks and
Romans stored their scrolls in cylindrical boxes of wood and ivory. In India, as elsewhere in the East, fragile palmleaf
manuscripts were protected first by fastening them between strips of wood or carved ivory and then by covering
them with a cloth piece, called bastas (Kathpalia, 1973; Plumbe, 1959b). The same practice was noticed in Laos and
other countries in continental Southeast Asia (Giese, 1995; Hundius, 2000). In some countries such boxes
traditionally have legs in order to further air-circulation. Sometimes double boxes are used: a box in a box. The
woods of such boxes are often insect-repellent, like cypress-, cedar-, or p aulownia-wo od, and vary accord ing to
country (Jourdain, 1990; Kathpalia, 1973; Kenjo, 1997; Plumbe, 1959b), (see also section on Integrated Pest
Management). Important Chinese records and manuscripts were kept in wooden chests made from rosewood or
ebony covered with brass plates and placed on a platform in the room, keeping them relatively safe from fire
(Banerjee, 1997; Li, 1995; Yao Yu-Cheng, 1986).
The National Palace in Korea traditionally used wooden closets to store their records and manuscripts; today
they have replaced them with aluminium ones built off the ground (Su, 1979). The Jap anese storage container, a
paulownia-wood box, is specifically constructed to respond to changes in humidity. Paulownia is a soft, hygroscopic
material, and this characteristic, coupled with the highly developed skills of the box-maker, ensure that when the
humidity does climb, the lid and base of the box close very tightly and form a barrier between the environment and
the interior of the box. Desiccating agents, too, are occasionally found in old boxes. T he most common are small