Good practice for archive users:
Some basic rules
- Food and drink are not allowed in any archive
- Only pencils should be used in the vicinity of material; ink spillages, no matter how rare, are much more difficult to rectify than the even rarer pencil mark.
- Material must be kept in its archival order, as this may be representative of the manner in which the collection was originally created, or will at least be related to archival decisions made for important reasons.
Handling and Preservation
Firstly, the physical nature of the material influences the researcher's work. Some items may be frail, or may have been damaged at some point in their history. When handling such material, it is important to minimise any further effect upon the material, as much as possible. Gloves may need to be worn when dealing with fragile documents or items. A clear space should be used to rest materials upon, and in the case of some texts, it may be preferable to use some kind of a rest or other equipment in order to support the material. At Seven Stories, users will be advised about the specific handling needs of any material they are consulting.
As part of the preservation and cataloguing process, all paper clips and staples are removed and replaced with brass paperclips which are more resistant to corrosion, in order to protect the material. Material is stored in acid-free boxing and folders, again for preservation reasons. These help to stop paper from deteriorating.
Data Protection and Copyright Issues
Archival documents may be subject to copyright and data protection laws, and the researcher should be sensitive to this fact. It may be that material has already been flagged up by the archivist as raising particular data protection or copyright issues, but particularly when involved with research on previously
