On a Roll: Creating a Futomaki-style Preservation Housing for a Large Map
Posted April 25, 2018
Many paper items in library collections are simply too large to be stored flat. If an item is larger than any available flat filing...Category: Preservation
University Libraries Preservation and Conservation
A Spark of Curiosity: Finding an anti-strike coating for match heads
Posted February 20, 2018
By Roger Williams, Conservation Fellow We recently treated a scrapbook once belonging to Ardis Nadine Kuhnen, an Evanston resident and Northwestern alumna (B.S. ’51)....
Behind the Scenes Conservation: Gellan Gum Workshop
Posted November 29, 2017
By Susan Russick, Special Collections Conservator Water in. Water out. Half of what we do in conservation is adding and removing water. We use...
Obama Foods: Yes We Can (Save Those Wrappers)
Posted September 13, 2017
Back in 2015, the Preservation Department at the Libraries curated an exhibit called “Beyond the Book: The Changing Nature of Library Collections,” which highlighted...
Helping smaller institutions preserve their own collections
Posted July 7, 2017
A large academic institution like Northwestern University Libraries has ample staff and resources for the upkeep of its materials. But many smaller cultural institutions might...
Moving ‘Matrix’: A big project to protect a bigger painting
Posted June 19, 2017
By Susan Russick, Special Collections Conservator Over the summer, University Library is undergoing a significant renovation of its entrance hallway. For visitors, this means...
Seeing in “4D”: Bucky Fuller’s manifesto & conservation decision-making
Posted April 20, 2017
Conservators do their best to inflict as little change as possible on the items they treat. Sometimes this rule is straightforward; at other times,...
The Red Scare: Washing & lining early Soviet propaganda posters
Posted January 25, 2017
Deering Special Collections has a group of roughly 250 Soviet propaganda posters, primarily from the 1930s and 1940s. A number of the posters were...
Finding hidden text: Now you see me… Now you don’t
Posted November 30, 2016
While conducting research on slotted parchment bindings, Hesiodou tou Askraiou Erga kai Hemerai (Hesiod 1537) came to the attention of preservation staff. We could...