Kenneth Spencer Research Library

Conservation Services is working on a project to better store our rolled collection material. During the assessment of rolled collections, University Archivist Becky Schulte and Assistant University Archivist Letha Johnson presented us with a fat, canvas roll. It wasn’t labeled on the outside, so we had to unroll it to determine what it was.

Unrolling (left) and re-rolling on an alkaline buffered core (right) a mural that once hung in the Kansas Union.
Call number 0/22/54/i 1950s, University Archives. Click images to enlarge.

Turns out, it is a mural depicting scenes from prairie life in the days of the “Wild West.” There are cowboys rounding up a herd of cattle, settlers waving goodbye to a group of covered wagons and a stagecoach, and two Native Americans watching the scene. The faces of Spanish explorers who once searched the plains for El Dorado, the city of gold, peer out from the clouds in the middle of the mural.

Details from the mural. Stagecoach with Spanish explorer in the clouds (left) and Native Americans observing the scene (right). Call number 0/22/54/i 1950s, University Archives. Click images to enlarge.

The mural was painted by H. C. Crain in 1952 and measures 46 feet, 9 inches long and 5 feet tall. In the 1950s it adorned a wall in the Trail Room on the second floor of the Memorial Union. Not much else is known about its origins.

Images of the mural when it hung in the Kansas Union cafeteria, 1950s. Left section (above left), middle section (above right), and right section (below). Call number 0/22/54/i 1950s, University Archives. Click images to enlarge.

Staff in Conservation Services transported the mural to Spencer Library’s North Gallery in order to unroll it for photography and re-roll it on an alkaline-buffered tube. The completed roll will be covered with a muslin dustcover and labeled with an image of the mural to prevent unnecessary handling. As we improve rolled storage in Spencer Library, we will eventually hang this rolled item, along with others, on specially designed racks.

Whitney Baker
Head, Conservation Services

We receive many rolled posters, maps, photographs, and other paper items in the conservation lab. Oftentimes the cataloger or processor hasn’t been able to open the item to determine what it is. For most of these items, humidification and flattenting is the standard treatment.

Image of a rolled photograph before dehumidification.

High humidity environments can be deleterious to paper if not closely monitored. However, sometimes we use humidity to our advantage: to relax rolled paper in order to flatten it. I often use the sink in the conservation lab to create a humidity chamber. On the bottom is the water. We use rubber stoppers with a layer of plastic eggcrate sheeting to make a platform above the water level. On top of that is a blotter paper to protect the collection item from the grid of the eggrate. The rolled item is placed on the blotter and the lid is put on the chamber.

Humidity chamber created in a sink.

I closely watch the rolled item to determine when I might begin to gently unroll it or when it’s ready to come out of the chamber. Especially for photographs, this step has to be done with utmost care.

Unrolling a humidified photograph.

Once it is completely unrolled or very relaxed, I remove the item from the chamber and press it between blotters and a spun polyester cloth called Hollytex, with a Plexiglas sheet and weight on top.

Finished photograph after humidification treatment.

Sometimes items aren’t 100% flat after treatment. In this case, the photograph is flat enough for a patron to use it, without overstressing the layers comprising the photograph.

Whitney Baker
Head, Conservation Services

This week’s blog post comes from Museum Studies Graduate Student and Conservation Student Assistant Jami Roskamp.

There are always hidden treasures in the Archives; however, the containers they are kept in can be far from the treasure chests that these gems deserve.  One of the many interesting items that can be found in the University of Kansas Archives is a collection of plaster masks (call number: 22/12) originally from the Art Department Sculpture Studio.  Several of these plaster masks capture the likenesses of past chancellors and students.  Initially some of these masks were housed in cardboard boxes and wrapped in newsprint, while others were placed in file boxes that did not adequately accommodate the object’s size. 

The challenge: how to rehouse fragile plaster masks (some of which were in pieces)

Under the supervision of Whitney Baker, Conservator for KU Libraries, I was tasked with providing the plaster masks with more suitable forms of housing to extend preservation and accommodate their ranging sizes.  I conducted an item condition report on each of the masks–recording measurements for size, material, and damage, if the object had any–prior to rehousing the masks in new containers. 

Jami Roskamp examines a plaster mask in order to determine how best to rehouse it.

For the rehousing of the masks, they were placed in archival quality boxes that were padded with Ethafoam so the objects would be securely stored.  A few of the masks were in more fragile condition and needed to have further padding created for them to secure their pieces.  Now the plaster masks are placed in spacious new storage containers that effectively house and preserve them so that they will be protected for future Jayhawks to view.

New housings for plaster masks: (left)  fragmented mask by or of “Nelson” and (right) mask of former KU Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy.

Jami Roskamp
Museum Studies Graduate Student and Conservation Student Assistant

One of the most common questions we receive when new patrons enter the reading room is “what are those things on the desks?”  Most users are able to identify the clear acrylic (plexiglas) stands as book cradles (used to support a book while it’s being read), but the cushion-y, fabric-based “things” lying next to them present more of a mystery.

These are in fact another type of book support: one that consists of a roll-able, padded mat called a “book futon” and two long, pliable, cylindrical objects called “book snakes.”  Since some of the volumes in our collections can be quite fragile, it is important to limit the stress on their bindings during use. By rolling the ends of a book futon (or futons) around book snakes, you can create an adjustable support to accommodate books of various sizes.  The goal is to arrange the futon and snakes so that the volume lies open at a safe angle, with its “boards” supported.  This minimizes the pressure on the book’s spine and hinges.  Smaller book snakes (sometimes referred to affectionately as “book worms”) may be positioned on the book to keep it open to a given page.

Book snakes are not only an essential tool when handling rare and fragile books; they can also prove quite handy for the average reader at home! (Think about all of the times that you’ve struggled to keep a cookbook open while following a recipe or have needed to prop a book open in order to take notes).  Fortunately, making your own book snake is a relatively easy craft project. Roberta Woodrick of KU Libraries’ Conservation Services has made a wonderful video tutorial to walk you step by step through the process.  The tutorial is based on the guidelines of Jennifer Hain Teper, Conservation Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Enjoy!

How to Make a Book Snake, with Roberta Woodrick

Roberta Woodrick
Assistant Conservator, Conservation Services

and

Elspeth Healey
Special Collections Librarian

In Conservation Services we borrow the Boy Scouts’ motto of “Be Prepared” when it comes to disaster planning. In order to be ready to combat any flood, fire, or leak that might happen, we take various preventive steps. We have a disaster plan in place for every library at the University of Kansas, including Kenneth Spencer Research Library. We have a Collections Emergency Response Team that undergoes periodic emergency preparedness and response training.  Also, in each library we have placed disaster kits full of commonly used disaster supplies to be ready to respond quickly.

Our kits are on wheels and were retrofitted with a handle so they are easy to transport to a disaster site. Supplies include paper towels, sponges, caution tape, bucket, extension cord, scissors, flashlight (with batteries), and lots of plastic sheeting. The kits are checked yearly to keep them well stocked.

Fortunately Spencer Library has a good roof and is solidly built so we’ve had relatively few problems.  But we are ready if need be.

Whitney Baker
Head, Conservation Services