Introduction

Picking the right storage for your family heirlooms seems relatively straightforward—in theory anyway. Unfortunately, space, time and budget constraints often complicate the matter somewhat but it's nothing you can't handle! Before considering all the storage options available though, it's important to understand what you are trying to accomplish with long term storage. Preservation is the goal—doing what you can to slow down the deterioration of precious family memories. Notice that I said slow down, not stop. Decay is as inescapable as death and taxes but there are many ways to effect the rate at which deterioration occurs.

So, to find out how to ease this destructive process lets start by looking at the things that cause deterioration. Careless handling, extremes of temperature and humidity, exposure to light, acidic environments, pollutants, friction, excessive pressure, lack of proper support and (yes, I have to say it) pests are all things that can harm your manuscripts and ephemera. It goes without saying, then, that a good storage environment shields your archives from all these damaging things as much as possible. I'll steal from Hippocrates here and add "First, do no harm." Make sure that whatever you do to your archives, it won't be worse than if you had done nothing at all. That's it, plain and simple. Keep these thoughts in your head at all times and you are sure to make good long term storage decisions. Just to be on the safe side though, and so you have some trivia to bore your friends with at parties, read on for the details of archival storage.