{"id":26601,"date":"2017-06-26T08:30:25","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T12:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=26601"},"modified":"2017-06-26T22:04:16","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T02:04:16","slug":"how-to-safely-archive-qsls-postcards-photos-and-printed-memorabilia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/how-to-safely-archive-qsls-postcards-photos-and-printed-memorabilia\/","title":{"rendered":"How to safely archive QSLs, postcards, photos, and printed memorabilia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently, an SWLing Post<\/em> reader asked this simple question:<\/p>\n

“If you were me, would you laminate a super-rare QSL card?”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The short answer\u2013? \u00a0Please don’t!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Never laminate a QSL card, photo, page or postcard<\/h2>\n

You should never<\/em>\u00a0apply heat-seal or adhesive (cold) seal lamination to a QSL card or any other paper memorabilia if your ultimate goal is to protect and archive it.<\/p>\n

Why? \u00a0Doesn’t lamination, for example, make your card impervious to moisture (and spilled coffee)? \u00a0Sort of. \u00a0So that makes it safe for the long term, doesn’t it? Well…not exactly.<\/p>\n

These forms of lamination, over time, basically destroy printed media. In the short term, laminating your cards can look great, and will keep some of the coffee off (though it may still seep in the sides); in the long term, however, the (petroleum-based) plastic can “off gas,” causing a detrimental chemical reaction with the media it attempts to protect. \u00a0Plastic can also be acidic. \u00a0Coupled with the lamination heat (or the adhesive, in the case of cold-seal lamination) these processes can actually speed up<\/em> the aging process “causing progressive deterioration and eventual embrittlement,” according to one archiving source.<\/p>\n

I feel fairly passionate about this because, during my undergraduate studies, I worked for my university archives department where I was taught (by an excellent and knowledgeable archivist) to handle, document, index, and preserve sensitive documents, books, photos, cards, slides and other forms of media (known in the trade as “ephemera”). \u00a0Many times, we’d receive important documents or photos from donors who had laminated them, believing they were archiving these items for future generations. Alas, we saw the results of the lamination damage first-hand: \u00a0decades-old items that had been heat-laminated were separating and clouding up, often tearing apart the item inside. Our head archivist likened laminating to a self-destruct mechanism.<\/p>\n

Take away? Lamination is a very bad<\/em> idea for the long-term protection of any print media.<\/p>\n

How to archive a QSL card\u2013\u2013or any<\/em> document, for that matter<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Archival sleeves come in all forms. This one holds four cards and fits in a three ring binder.<\/p><\/div>\n

Fortunately, there are effective (and fairly affordable) ways to properly archive and organize your QSL card collection, as well as other sentimental and\/or valuable ephemera.<\/p>\n

Look for archival transparent sleeves supplied to libraries. These are generally made of polyethylene, mylar\/polyester, or another transparent archival material that passes the Photographic Activity Test (PAT)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In short: If you find an archival sleeve, from a reputable seller that passes the P.A.T. test, you’ll know it’s safe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Archival products are acid-free, lignan-free, and chemical softener-free, thus should not interact or bind with the media you’re preserving as non-acid-free items are prone to do.\u00a0With anything I wish to archive, I go with archival quality all the way.<\/p>\n

For example, I make sure not only the clear sleeves or pages are archival, but that the binder or box containing the items are acid-free and of archival quality, as well. Any labels I use are archival, as well . That may seem like overkill to many, but it’s just what an archivist would do!<\/p>\n

Storage of the media is also important; you don’t want to put your cards in archival sleeves and then leave them in a damp shed or shack where moisture can become trapped between your card and the encapsulating archival sleeve; mold could still develop. \u00a0So a dry, somewhat temperature-controlled environment is key. \u00a0Generally speaking, keeping ephemera indoors where you live may be a better option.<\/p>\n

Sources of Archival Materials<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

A simple acid-free box can store hundreds of QSL cards in archival sleeves sleeves.<\/p><\/div>\n

Archival products are more expensive than standard office products, but they’re worth it. Make sure you’re purchasing the best quality you can afford. Two of my favorite suppliers are Gaylord Archival<\/strong><\/a> and Light Impressions<\/a><\/strong>, though there are many other reputable ones out there.<\/p>\n

Amazon<\/a> and eBay<\/a> offer sources of archival quality products, as well, and pricing can be more competitive than either of the retailers I’ve listed above.<\/p>\n

As for myself, \u00a0I only buy archival products from retailers that specialize in them.<\/em> Both Light Impressions and Gaylord Archival have helpful staff you can call on the phone. They’ll help you find the best material for the preservation of your collection of QSL cards or whatever else you may want to protect.<\/p>\n

I’d rather support Light Impressions<\/a> with my purchase knowing that their standards are strict and their reputation rides on their products meeting strict archival standards. If you’re going to pay for something to protect your memorabilia, I say, go for quality!<\/p>\n

And in the meantime…give the heat lamination a miss.<\/p>\n

Good luck with your long-term archiving! \u00a0And don’t forget to share those rare QSL cards with us here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, an SWLing Post reader asked this simple question: “If you were me, would you laminate a super-rare QSL card?” The short answer\u2013? \u00a0Please don’t! Never laminate a QSL card, photo, page or postcard You should never\u00a0apply heat-seal or adhesive (cold) seal lamination to a QSL card or any other paper memorabilia if your ultimate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[627,3,305,894,288],"tags":[6277,5155,6276,6278,6264,6275,6265,899,4865],"class_list":["post-26601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-qsl-gallery","category-radio-history","tag-acid-free","tag-archive","tag-gaylord-archival","tag-how-to-archive-ephemera","tag-how-to-archive-printed-material","tag-light-impressions","tag-qsl-archiving","tag-qsl-cards","tag-radio-archiving"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-6V3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13050,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/radio-casablanca-qsl-card\/","url_meta":{"origin":26601,"position":0},"title":"Radio Casablanca QSL card","author":"Thomas","date":"April 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm very pleased to have just received a QSL card for the Radio Casablanca broadcast I heard last week. If you missed\u00a0the show, click here to listen to my off air recording. This recording was also uploaded to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive; if you subscribe to the archive as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Radio Casablanca QSL Card","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Thomas-Witherspoon-04172015.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Thomas-Witherspoon-04172015.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Thomas-Witherspoon-04172015.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42724,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/check-out-this-amazing-qsl-and-off-air-audio-from-shortwave-pirate-the-purple-nucleus-of-creation\/","url_meta":{"origin":26601,"position":1},"title":"Check out this amazing QSL and off-air audio from shortwave pirate “The Purple Nucleus of Creation”","author":"Thomas","date":"April 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I uploaded a recording of 2001 shortwave pirate The Purple Nucleus of Creation to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA). The recording was submitted by Adam C. Smith, a regular over at the SRAA. Adam's six minute off-air recording was made on October 27, 2001 at\u00a0 0009UTC on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Purple-QSL-6-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Purple-QSL-6-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Purple-QSL-6-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44500,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/toms-amazing-1986-voyager-experimental-aircraft-flight-communications-recording-and-qsl-card\/","url_meta":{"origin":26601,"position":2},"title":"Tom’s amazing 1986 Voyager Experimental Aircraft flight communications recording and QSL card","author":"Thomas","date":"July 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the most amazing things about hosting and curating a massive collection of shortwave radio recordings is listening to each recording as they\u2019re published on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA). SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, has shared some brilliant off-air and studio recordings over the years including the following\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1024px-Voyager_aircraft.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1024px-Voyager_aircraft.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1024px-Voyager_aircraft.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1024px-Voyager_aircraft.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29632,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/radio-mi-amigo-qsl-card-with-special-stamp\/","url_meta":{"origin":26601,"position":3},"title":"Radio Mi Amigo QSL Card with special stamp","author":"Thomas","date":"December 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who writes: Hi Thomas, I have received a QSL-card from Radio Mi Amigo with a special individual stamp. Radio Mi Amigo announced this in the Newsletter in December: \u201cUnique Radio Mi Amigo stamps: We are proud to announce our own official Radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Mi-Amigo-1024x643.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Mi-Amigo-1024x643.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Mi-Amigo-1024x643.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58629,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/radio-pragues-2024-qsl-card-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":26601,"position":4},"title":"Radio Prague\u2019s 2024 QSL Card Series","author":"Thomas","date":"January 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following article from Radio Prague: Radio Prague\u2019s 2024 QSL card series will be musical \u2013 and digital To this day, Radio Prague International has kept up the decades-long tradition of QSL cards \u2013 postcards confirming receipt of reception reports\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34647,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/lennart-shares-radio-tahiti-qsls\/","url_meta":{"origin":26601,"position":5},"title":"Lennart shares Radio Tahiti QSLs","author":"Thomas","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Lennart Weirell, who writes: The posting about Mark's shortwave recording of Radio Tahiti brings back memories from the 80s. In 1982 I visited Tahiti with my family during a holiday from Malaysia, where I was working at that time, and could listen to Radio Tahiti\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/QSL-1-Tahiti-1024x745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/QSL-1-Tahiti-1024x745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/QSL-1-Tahiti-1024x745.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}