You have to wear the gloves

In the last post I mentioned that getting closer to your ideal preservation conditions and processes involves one step at a time and suggested buying white gloves as a first inexpensive step to dealing with your items, such as photographs or slides. The second step is, obviously enough, that you have to wear the gloves.

This may seem to simple, but it's often the harder part of taking that first step. Not wearing the gloves is like starting an exercise program by buying the gym membership and then never going. It's easy to do, but not very effective and won't get you any closer to your goals. Get into the habit. Set an example for your staff by wearing the gloves when you work with the items. Create a habit. Let's say working with the photographs is something you only do once a week. Instead, try to make a schedule to work with the photographs every day for an hour (if you don't already) and make sure you wear the gloves as part of your ritual.

Still resisting? Perhaps there is something else going on. The gloves aren't the right size. Or you need to use lotion after wearing them for a while. See if there are other problems that can be resolved so that you can master this step. Maybe white gloves were not the place to start. The whole point of the previous post was to start somewhere, not to boost glove sales; the whole point of this post is that once you do start, follow through. Wear your gloves - whatever form they take.

Preservation is Compromise

We would all like to have the best equipment, the best space, the ideal climate conditions for our collections, but sometimes it's just not feasible. This isn't about giving up altogether, or complaining about the library world, being underfunding, the lack of professionalism, etc. It's about realizing that these compromises and priority-making are a part of the work. It is what makes librarianship, museum curation, and preservation a challenging job - one that should require a masters degree to do.

Celebrate the small victories, and move forward even if you don't think you're "at that stage yet." For example, buying gloves for handling photographs. The gloves are inexpensive and a good place to make one small step forward. The environment may not be the cleanest, many of the photographs may already be dusty, water damaged, ripped and bent, and you may not be putting them into the proper archival boxes right away, however, it's a start. Donning the gloves is a constant reminder of how the space is supposed to be a clean area. It will get you into the mindset to make other small changes and decisions.

It may also open your eyes to the long way you have to go to get to your ideal preservation set up, but don't let it overwhelm you. Next month, maybe you'll be able to ensure you have a few of those archival boxes.