Aim of this guide

This guide will help you learn how to catalogue your family collection so that the unique records in your archive concerning both the soldiers who served in World War One and their families can be preserved for the future.

What is a family collection?

A family collection is all the things relating to your WWI ancestors that have been preserved in your immediate or extended families. They may contain the following:

• Archive material. These are primary sources that are usually unique or rare, such as correspondence, diaries, photographs, account books, press cuttings and audio-visual material.
• Printed material. This is anything that is published like books, pamphlets, newspapers and journals.
• Objects. These are typically a 3D object like a medal or uniform, or artwork such as an original oil painting.

Why are family collections important?

You may or may not realise this but even the smallest of family collections can be incredibly helpful in telling the stories we are interested in learning about in this project. Sometimes made out of everyday objects, these collections can tell stories that illustrate the unofficial history of the World Wars. They document events, people and customs, showing us how our ancestors lived, providing us with our identity, in terms of community and culture.

What is cataloguing?

This is the systematic documentation of a collection. The process of cataloguing lets you maintain records to assist in preserving your family's history. It can be broken down into the following three areas:

1. Handling your family collection

We are custodians of these valuable materials and they are only in our care for very short time so we have a responsibility to avoid small mistakes that might lead to irreparable damage or damage that is very expensive to repair.

Most damage done to archives is during the consultation or handling process. Be aware of the dangers and keep these in mind throughout the process. You will see that it’s mainly common sense, but it can be very easy to slip up and get too comfortable with the documents. It’s important to continue to remind yourself of the rules.

The Basics

• Wash hands before you start and at least every hour or less if you feel your hands are dirty – but avoid hand creams.
• Don’t lick your fingers when turning pages.
• Avoid leaning on or touching the document – use a paper marker to follow the text or acid-free paper to lean your hand on.
• If you have them, it’s best to use cotton gloves when handling photographs and hold them by the edges – but see below for other advice regarding the use of gloves.
• Don’t let a document hang off the edge of the desk.
• Make sure the surface that you are going to consult the document on is dry and clean.
• Turn pages with care.
• Do not put anything on top of the documents.
• Use a soft-leaded pencil only – avoid using pens near documents.
• Don’t use post-it notes to mark documents as these can leave permanent marks if left for a long time.
• Don’t use Sellotape, non-archival paperclips or non-acid-free card as they can also leave irreversible marks, damage or accelerate deterioration.

Books

• It's best to support the book at an angle by using wedges, which put less strain on the spine than by having it fully open.
• Use a paper marker to follow the text.
• Use small weights to hold down pages.

Maps & plans

• Make sure you have enough space to open up a large document.
• Use small weights to hold down the edges – put these around the edge rather than on the printed image.

Photographs

• Handling is a major cause of damage for photographs so be extra careful.
• Fingerprints can leave perspiration and oily stains on the emulsion.
• Dirt can scratch the delicate surface and act as a catalyst for some chemical reactions.
• It’s advisable to use lint-free, cotton gloves.
• Always pick up a photograph with two hands.
• Only handle the edge of an image

Weapons & other objects

• Clean the object as gently as possible to remove dust, which can be abrasive.
• Be very careful of sharp edges.

Using specialist tools

Here are some specialist tools that can help protect a valuable item when handling them:

• Snake weights – lead shot covered in cotton to weigh down pages when consulting books.
• Weight bags – these are like heavy bean-bag filled with lead shot and used to keep maps open when consulting.
• Book display pillows – these support the spines and boards of fragile book covers.

2. Preserving your family collection

Your family's archived objects are unique and irreplaceable. They must be protected as best as possible, and if they are deteriorating, the rate of decay should be slowed as much as possible. Besides poor handling, here are the key risks to archived items:

Packing

The first line of defence, it protects items from poor handling, dirt, light, and acts as a buffer against fluctuations in temperature and humidity. It may also help protect items in case of disasters such as flood or fire.

A great investment is to buy archival quality, acid-free folders, boxes and envelopes but make sure you get these from a recognised archival supplier. They are made from inert materials so they are more stable than normal paper and board, which are acidic and can cause permanent damage to archival material.

Here are some specific examples to get you started:

• Weapons & other objects

  • Pack in an acid-free, archival quality box.
  • Use acid-free tissue paper to wrap and cushion the item in the box.

• Medals & coins

  • Use individual acid-free envelopes – these can be marked in pencil with identification numbers.
  • Store in an acid-free box – you can use polyester bags for these so that they can be seen without removing and handling directly.

Storage

It’s best to keep objects as dirt- and dust-free as possible by choosing a storage location that is clean, secure and protected from big fluctuations in temperature and humidity, which accelerate deterioration. Access to the stored items should be restricted by the use of a lock and key to minimise the risk of theft. Here are some specific examples to get you started:

• Books

  • Order your books on the shelf according to alphabetical order.
  • If several authors have the same surname, order by first names.
  • Remember the most efficient use of space is to put all the books of the same size together – oversize books can have a separate shelf.
  • Keep large books on the bottom shelves.
  • Keep really large books flat.

Light

The wrong levels (or fluctuations) can be the biggest cause of damage to archives. Exposure to light causes paper to yellow and inks to fade. Light damage is irreversible and cumulative ultraviolet radiation is especially damaging.

Pests

There are many pests that can cause a lot of damage in archives, such as woodworms, biscuit beetle, moths, carpet beetle, silverfish and mice. In these cases, prevention is much better than the cure!

Mould

Mould can spread rapidly and destroy a collection if environmental conditions allow it. Also, mould grows quickly in humid conditions. Dry mould is not an immediate threat, but must be removed anyway. If you see mould, isolate the objects and call a conservator.

3. Cataloguing your family collection

Once you know how to handle and store your family's treasures, you are ready to begin their cataloguing. This is where you create your own record of these objects by bringing together information that tells the story of your collection and its history.

It is advisable to use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel to create the catalogue. Make three sheets (Archive, Library and Museum) in a single spreadsheet with the following column headings (making sure that at a minimum you complete all fields marked with an asterisk *):

Archive

This will contain details of your Archive Material.

Library

This will contain details of your Printed Material.

Museum

This will contain details of your Objects.

Cataloguing basics

• 1. Do not use abbreviations

  Abbreviations must be avoided to ensure clarity. Users often do not know what abbreviations stand for and abbreviations used instead of complete words may not be found during searching. This includes abbreviations for people’s names and acronyms for institutions, eg ‘re’ for regarding.

• 2. Use proper sentences rather than fragments

  It’s really important that you read back your description and make sure that they make grammatical sense. Don’t forget to make backup copies of your catalogue in both electronic format and in hardcopy.

• 4. Avoid subjective descriptions

  Please avoid describing a record as ‘interesting’ or stating that an amount of money is ‘large’. Descriptions should not include the cataloguer’s opinions and should work from the objective evidence in the documents. Think of how a definition for the Oxford English Dictionary is written.

• 5. Use square brackets when inferring information

  The convention is to use square brackets when you are adding inferences as a cataloguer, eg [sic], [date from postmark].

• 6. Use consistent terminology wherever possible

  For names of people these are called authorities – you should use the same format every time you enter a name.

• 7. Number each object

  Each object must carry its accession number. Easiest method is to attach a piece of acid‐free card with cotton tying tape or string. Write with a 2B pencil and beware that this label can get detached, so be careful how to tie it to the object:

  • Use Tyvek labels.
  • Loop the string/tape through the label and tie a knot to stop the label rubbing against the object.
  • Use a safe point to attach the label – a handle for example.
  • If the object is round with no obvious place to attach the label tie it as you would a parcel.
  • Sew a tag into a textile object and attach the label.
  • If this is not possible label the box and put a label in the box.