Our 8 miles of shelving includes a special room for audio-visual material – film, photographic and audio records. This room is slightly drier and cooler than the paper and parchment repositories. Physical items are stored in archival packaging and labelled with a reference number so we can find them again. The challenge is that the… Read more Archives A-Z: F is for film
April sees the 18th annual International Edible Book Festival (yes, it’s a real thing!). So, we’re sharing a few examples of insects that enjoy eating books and other materials found within an archive, such as paper, adhesives and leather. Please note that these pests were not found at Dorset History Centre! We have an extensive… Read more Archives A-Z: E is for edible archives
It won’t surprise you that Dorset History Centre contains a LOT of boxes. Our environmentally controlled repositories have a capacity of around 49,000 archive boxes – not including oversize items. The boxes are made from materials that won’t have any negative effects on the unique items they contain. Collections arrive with us in various states… Read more Archive A-Z: B is for boxes
Our recent work experience student, Ellie, shares her reflections on a week working in the county archives based at Dorset History Centre. Discovering archives I completed a week-long work experience placement at Dorset History Centre, discovering the archives and how they are managed. As this was the first time I had visited I didn’t have a clear idea of… Read more Work experience in the archives
Dorset Archives Trust have recently funded the purchase of an environmental meter, which is used to offer advice to museums and individuals. When caring for historic documents, it’s important to ensure the environment they are stored in is not detrimental to their long-term survival. At Dorset History Centre, archival documents are stored in purpose-built strongrooms that are controlled… Read more Monitoring the Environment
There is a lot of science involved in the continuing care of our archives. Our conservator reveals what she gets up to in the collections care room. Prevention and cure As the Conservator at the Dorset History Centre my job is to take care of the collections that are housed here. I do this firstly through… Read more A day in the life of an archive conservator
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