Rehousing the Collection – An Update

This project proposed to rehouse the photographic and document collection of the MVHS Research Centre. It was based on the recommendations of Conservator, Kaye Soderlund, following her 2019 audit and was made possible through an $8,144 grant presented by the National Library of Australia in 2020.

Twelve months on from winning the grant and our Archives volunteers have got this project well underway. A 14-drawer plan draw cabinet, 250 Archival Storage boxes and almost 1,000 Mylar sleeves have been purchased and are now being put in place. Our wonderful Archives volunteers will continue to work their way through the collection, taking the opportunity to re-order and re-catalogue the collection, much of which has not seen the light-of-day for many years.

Kay Wallace, Archives Curator, looking through County and Parish maps.

The new plan drawers purchased through the grant give us plenty of room to flat-pack all of our maps, plans and other large format documents.

They will also house our large photos and portraits, shown here stored in Mylar sleeves which were also purchased through the grant.

Judy Yarrington, Photo Curator, scanning photos before returning them to storage in Mylar sleeves.

This project will give us the opportunity to re-digitise our collection. The digital master files will then be used for research and display purposes while the originals are placed in long-term, archival storage.

Carol Clark, Archivist, moving our archival documents and research material to more suitable storage boxes.

These storage boxes provide us with a much more uniform and consistent storage option. They also help protect the contents from damage caused by environment exposure, pests and accidents.