Our collective past and historical heritage are captured largely on paper. 

And just like the cave paintings of ancient times, paper is now endangered.

Increasingly severe weather events put valuable paper documents at risk. We've seen unusually destructive floods, wildfires, and storms in recent years—and according to climate change experts, severe weather will only worsen in the coming years.

Besides, paper is prone to deterioration over time. It becomes fragile and prone to tearing as part of the natural aging process. It may attract mold if stored in humid conditions and may suffer from pest infestation in dark or unattended storage areas.

Ancient manuscripts, historical publications, and legacy records are testimonies to our cultural and social history and are priceless custodians of our heritage and must be preserved.

How do you protect valuable paper documents—be it historical archives, historical books, and legacy records that chronicle land ownership and other critical records from the past?

In this article, we discuss the challenges of preserving physical documents from natural deterioration, pest infestations, and severe weather events. We also discuss professional document preservation services offered by RDS for storing and maintaining valuable physical records, including document digitization to preserve information electronically.

Challenges in Document Preservation

Climate factors

Extreme temperature variations can cause the organic fibers within paper to warp and deteriorate. High humidity encourages the growth of mold and causes paper to decay. Prolonged exposure to light can cause paper and printed ink to fade and discolor. Humid conditions lead to mold and fungal growth on paper, damaging paper or making the ink illegible. Cellulose, the organic component in paper, is prone to degradation, and oxidative changes are accelerated by heat and light. Paper also contains acidic elements, which lead it to become brittle and tear.

Pest threats

Pests such as moths, cockroaches, silverfish, termites and rodents are attracted to paper and can feed on it, causing irreversible damage.

Time's toll

Paper breaks down over time, becoming stiff, brittle, yellow, or discolored. Printing ink also fades with exposure to heat, light or other pollutants over time.

Solutions to Climate, Pest, and Time Challenges

The cumulative effects of time, organic degradation, and pollutants or pests can destroy paper archives and historical records kept in document storage areas for years.

You can slow down these degenerative effects by controlling temperature and humidity in document storage areas and keeping the area free from dust, pollutants and pests. 

You need specialized storage areas with good control over climatic conditions and advanced archival techniques to mitigate the risks posed by temperature, humidity, and light. Regular inspections of storage areas are necessary to check for climatic conditions as well as pest infestations.

Proper storage and handling

Storing documents in a dark, dry place and using protective boxes, plastic sleeves, or specialized folders or binders can help to protect them from dust, dirt, moisture, acidic elements and even pests.

Minimizing physical handling of very old or fragile documents is also important. Control the access to the originals of important documents. Instead, make digital copies available for students, researchers, or employees to refer to the information and avoid handling the originals.

Minimal handling also reduces exposure of the originals to light and pollutants in the air. Handling of fragile paper documents should be left to trained personnel to avoid contaminating the documents with dirt or moisture.

Climate control

A vital strategy for document preservation is controlling the storage area environment. Invest in a robust HVAC system (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) to maintain the temperature and humidity in the storage area and protect paper documents from external weather fluctuations. You can also use advanced sensors or data logs to monitor changes in temperature and humidity so that corrective actions can be taken in time to prevent deterioration.

Pest management

Preventive measures are preferred to mitigate the threat of pest infestations. In case of an infestation, targeted treatment for the particular pest may be initiated. However, these treatments often involve harmful chemicals, which in themselves may prove to be pollutants concerning the preservation of fragile paper. Herbal solutions may be an alternative in such cases.

Preventing insects and rats in document storage areas by sealing entry points, frequent cleaning, and regular pesticide treatments are essential.

A holistic or integrated approach using preventive, non-toxic and targeted treatments is the most effective.

Document restoration and preservation services

Document preservation experts have the know-how to take preventive as well as corrective action to conserve fragile paper documents and restore them if they are already damaged. It is important to collaborate with a specialized document preservation services company for assessment, guidance, and best practices on the best way to store, handle, and preserve your valuable paper archives.

Document Preservation Process with Revolution Data Systems

RDS offers world-class historical document preservation services to safeguard legacy records for the future and prevent a potential loss of valuable information.

Want to know how to preserve old documents? Here's how our experts go about it:

1. Inspection: We start with assessing the current condition of your documents to understand what is needed to preserve or restore them. 

2. Cleaning: Our restoration experts use protective gear to safely and carefully remove accumulated dust, clips or staples and clean residues such as glue.

3. Repairing: If there is already some damage to the documents, we mend tears, remove creases, and try to remove stains. 

4. Deacidifying: We stabilize the documents and deacidify them to enhance the life of the paper. We add an alkaline buffering agent that prevents further deterioration.

5. Mylar Encapsulation: For fragile documents or books with small margins, documents are encased between two Mylar sheets, a durable, clear film. This seals the documents, protecting them from environmental damage while keeping them visible and accessible. Mylar encapsulation is reversible and ideal for preserving fragile records.

6. Binding: We use custom covers or binders to protect documents from external temperature changes and keep them safe from dust and pests.

The Future of Document Preservation: Digital Preservation

The future of document preservation lies in digital preservation. Preserving documents in a digital format is the way forward. It ensures that documents are kept safe and secure for the future.

For certain records, preserving and maintaining certain historical documents in a physical format is mandatory, but the approach to document preservation is evolving. Emerging technologies like advanced ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition), automated data extraction and indexing, and cloud-based document storage methods are revolutionizing how we archive information and preserve old records that are in danger of degradation.

It all starts with document scanning. What's new about that? We now have high-speed, automated scanners that need little manual intervention to feed thousands of papers into the machines and can deliver high-quality output. Advanced scanning technology is making it easier and more affordable to digitize and preserve documents.

The growing affordability of cloud-based storage solutions is paving the way for virtual archives to become the preferred method of preserving old documents. 

Advances in document management solutions are making virtual repositories more accessible, enhancing collaboration and data security without the physical constraints of traditional storage spaces.

A document misplaced is a document lost. While this is true for physical filing and cataloging of documents, it is equally true for digital repositories. 

Automated data extraction and indexing are essential for large archives or collections with thousands, if not millions, of papers.

AI and ML will continue to help us take huge strides in digital preservation. Integrating machine learning and OCR technologies will continue to enhance searchability but also enable the categorization and organization of vast digital archives.

Balancing Physical and Digital Preservation 

What’s the best way to preserve old documents? Digitization or physical conservation? There's still a need to strike a balance between the physical conservation of legacy paper documents and conversion to virtual archives.

We asked our document preservation experts, and here's what they prescribed:

• Identify the most valuable information or the most critical documents in your archives—these are the ones you should preserve in both physical and digital formats. Minimize handling of the originals and use the digital copies for regular use.
  

• Prioritize which documents you want to digitize first based on their current condition. Send those that are in poor condition for digitization immediately. In case the original is damaged or lost, you must have a digitized version for use.
  

• It may be a good idea to adopt a hybrid approach. Consider the cost and resource requirements to preserve documents in both physical and digital formats. Certain documents that don't need long-term preservation and are not already in a fragile condition could be retained in paper format till their expiration. Others may be preserved only in digital versions (if the original copy is not considered significant, such as business bank statements or past exam records for colleges). 

Ultimately, there is value to preserving historical archives in paper format—they're a part of our rich heritage. But we must take advantage of upcoming, cutting-edge technologies to digitize archives and ensure our future generations can benefit from the knowledge for years to come. 

RDS: Preserving valuable documents for posterity

At RDS, we have developed a well-defined, proven document preservation methodology. Highly skilled and qualified Project Managers execute the entire project in close coordination with client representatives. 

Our experts use advanced document preservation techniques to conserve documents and reverse the damage already done. Whether it is stabilizing documents to arrest further deterioration, providing protective storage solutions for long-term retention, or offering cutting-edge scanning and indexing services to create digital archives, rely on RDS to preserve your valuable documents.

Connect with our document scanning and document preservation experts for an instant quote today.