Practical writing on keeping permanent records usable – from the vault and the conservation bench to the scanner and the retention schedule.
What handwritten text recognition can do for old records: OCR vs HTR, training on a clerk's hand, keyword spotting, ground truth, privacy and project planning.
A practical checklist for monitoring temperature and humidity in a records vault, with logger placement, dehumidifier advice and how to read the logger graph.
How a small historical society handles attic donations: the first talk, appraisal, deeds of gift, provenance, accessioning, rehousing and saying no kindly.
Choosing preservation file formats: TIFF masters, PDF/A parts, JPEG 2000, PNG, CSV and XML, audio and video, plus checksums, fixity and migration planning.
A model policy memo for official email: when a message is a record, retention by role, personal accounts and texts, records requests, legal holds and export.
Phasing a records preservation program over a decade: condition survey, priority scoring, annual tranches, recording-fee funds, grants and board reports.
How iron gall ink damages paper, the four stages of ink corrosion, why humidity matters, safe handling and storage, and what a conservator can do about it.
How to scan bound volumes safely: cradles and opening angles, overhead vs flatbed scanners, glass, lighting, FADGI targets, file naming and honest throughput.
An hour-by-hour checklist for the first 48 hours after water reaches records: safety, insurer calls, drying the room, triage, interleaving, freezing, mold.
A historian's guide to 19th-century deed books: grantor and grantee indexes, deed formulas, metes and bounds, clerks' hands, margin notes and chains of title.
How to write a records retention schedule people use: general vs custom schedules, records series, event triggers, big buckets, adoption and annual disposition.
Why old pressure-sensitive tape stains records, the three stages of tape ageing, how conservators remove it with heat and solvents, and what to do meanwhile.
