From: Traichel, Rudi [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 4:46 PM
To: 'Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship'
Subject: RE: Wooden cabinets vs steel cabinets

Thank you, Kathleen. I had not thought of this benefit of wooden cabinets. I will have to take a closer look at Mary Larsgaard’s book and the NDCCP pamphlet and share the information with our group here.

Best regards,

Rudi Traichel

From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 11:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Wooden cabinets vs steel cabinets

From: Weessies, Kathleen [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 1:44 PM
To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
Subject: RE: Wooden cabinets vs steel cabinets

I was reading recently that in the case of a fire, a wooden cabinet would only char on the outside, while a metal cabinet conducts the heat and shares it with the contents of the drawers.  That was in Mary Larsgaard’s book (page 219) and also in the Northeast Document Conservation Center Preservation Pamphlet 4.9.

Kathleen Weessies

Geosciences Librarian; Head, Map Library

Coordinator; Collaborative Technology Labs

Michigan State University

Main Library

366 W. Circle Drive, W308

East Lansing, MI  48824

517-884-0849

From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 1:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Wooden cabinets vs steel cabinets

From: Traichel, Rudi [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 11:58 AM
To: 'Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship'
Cc: Traichel, Rudi
Subject: Wooden cabinets vs steel cabinets

Good morning everyone:

We are still in the process of getting our low use and superseded maps ready for that High Density (HD) storage facility here at UBC. I have a new question for the group.

Half the cabinets targeted for our HD facility are those aesthetically pleasing wooden types. We have had many of these since the 50s, some earlier.

There are some questions about continuing to us the wooden cabinets in an HD facility for the flat sheets. The wooden cabinets are made of an organic material (albeit, so are the maps). Wood reacts to humidity levels (which should be less a problem in an cutting edge HD and environmentally sound facility) and absorb airborne contaminants, I believe. Wood and the stains used on them stain (and I have evidence of this from old sheets in the cabinets) or can off-gas (probably not an issue with cabinets of this age in a stable environment).

To  mitigate future threats to the maps, we will folder as much as many maps as we can, and If we keep the cabinets we will line the bottoms and tops of the drawers with archival, lignum free papers).

Are there any concerns or worries out there about the soundness of continuing to use these wooden works of art for a collection of maps, many may be last copies in this portion of Canada, that we wish to conserve for posterity?

Other than buying steel cabinets to replace them, are there any options?

Any ideas or suggestions or advice would be most welcome.

Cheers,

Rudi

Rudolf Traichel

Maps, Microforms, and Serials Cataloguing Librarian

UBC CTS – Cataloguing – Floor 3 – Woodward Library

-- 2198 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3 CANADA

CTS Tel:(604) 822-3083 : Fax: (604) 822-3201