Paper:

Paper, especially modern paper, can be damaged by: light; heat; humidity; mould; pests; handling; and acid from within the paper, packaging, binding, and from hands, so to prevent the worst of these:

• Handle with clean hands and carefully.
• Undertaken simple preservation, including: brushing any dirt off the records; removing paper clips, staples, rubber bands, metal bindings, and any plastic; and package in acid free envelopes or boxes.
• Do not use adhesives on records.
• Do not laminate records.
• Store records flat but do not flatten or unfold with force.
• Store records away from: bright light, heat, damp areas, water sources, and areas where pests are likely to live.
• Consider copying very vulnerable items or printing out e-mails and web pages onto acid free paper and then storing away from other paper.

Photographs on paper are affected by the same things paper are but can be more susceptible, especially to heat, light, and acids from hands. In addition to the above follow the below instructions:

• Handle at the edges or ideally use cotton gloves.
• Store in acid free envelopes or albums but do not use magnetic or adhesive photograph albums.

Also remember to record the people and places in the photographs as you may well forget in years to come. Do so by writing in the albums next to the photograph or if necessary with a 2B pencil on the back.

Records stored on your computer, disks, and memory sticks, are also likely to suffer loss and damage. Data, for example, can easily become warped and unreadable or be wiped, and forms of storage become quickly out of date - new computers for example are not built with floppy disk drives. Some simple steps could help to prolong the life of your electronic records:

• Consider printing off records onto paper.
• Back up your records from your computer onto another form of storage, such as CD or memory stick.
• Store away from magnets.
• Consider re-saving data onto more modern formats as they are developed.