Macgyver's Guide to Archiving Part I: Photographs

Like many other museums, the GCHS Museum gets inundated with countless catalogs from Gaylord, Demco, Brodart,  etc. While larger museums and historical sites can afford to dish out a healthy chunk of change for these state of the art archival materials, however, we at the museum cannot so we have found several innovative and creative ideas to preserve our collections and keep our spending down. 


Our head intern  has been working on an archival project where in she is scanning, documenting and disassembling photo albums and boxes of old pictures at the museum. After using all of the archival 6 pocket pages her project was at a standstill. Until, I remembered that the Mylar sheets for sports cards were similar to those that Gaylord, Demco and Brodart sells. All of the items feature top-loading, heavyweight pages that hold three 4" x 6" items  each. The polypropylene pages are PVC- and acid-free and feature UV protection and strong welds. So, let's break it down to numbers (makes it easier to see how funky it can be, yo!):

For a 100 pack of Mylar Album Pages that hold Six 4 x 6 Prints: 

 Gaylord:  $59.90 (priced at $29.95 per 50 sheets)
 Demco: $59.98 (priced at $29.99 per 50 sheets)
 Brodart: $43.96 (their price is $10.99 per 25 sheets)
 Amazon.com : $11.30 ( a box of 100 sheets)

Though the costs of multiple purchase decreases if you buy more (5, 10, 20 packs, etc) but none can compete with the price of the same item targeted for a less endowed or perhaps less gluttonous audience. It seems surreal that many places that need these materials are bamboozled into believing that these other items are not of the same quality or some other pretentious blather. The fact is: THESE ARE THE SAME ITEMS.

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer:

This blog is in no way reflective of the wonderful organization of which, I am the proud director. Instead, this serves as a way to vent or share common experiences or head slapping turmoils associated with running a small museum on a shoestring budget.  That being said, do not presume that this is some sort of pretentious way of   "making a name for myself. " My greatest enjoyment comes from the successes and progress that occur at my beloved place of employment. I truly mean beloved because if not for the love of the building, its wonderful artifacts and the people who share the common dream, what is there but simple brick and mortar, cobwebs and droppings, gentle sighs and despair. Like a strong shouldered woman she rises and embraces all that come to know her. For who can say that they have not been impacted by the very size of it. What are 50 plus rooms if you have not wandered around and explored the vast and rich history of Greene County? How often have you discovered new rooms or an item you have not seen before?

It is mind-boggling to even ponder at the wonder of it all. Yet even as I type, there are a vast number of Greene Countians who have never stepped foot on wandering green grass or entered its glorious brick walls. But as this is just a blog and not a flagrant Victorian romance betwixt myself and the museum, I say come out and see what we have done. For it not for the people, who then do we toil daily for?