Plastics began to supersede glass as the medium of choice for the support base of photographic negatives from 1889 onwards. Archive, library and museum collections will likely hold a proportion of sheet and rolled film material which may be nitrate, acetate, or polyester; and this presents a challenge for these heritage institutions. Acetate and nitrate are at best deteriorative and potentially unstable, and at worse hazardous, both to heritage collections and health.

There are several potential methods of identification available, which vary in feasibility, reliability and expertise and equipment required to undertake, as well as presenting different issues of reversibility, safety, and reliability.

This presentation will investigate several of these methods of investigation; from visual identification and FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, to chemical analysis in the form of A-D strips and diphenylamine solution. The benefits, issues, complications, practical application and limitations of these different methods will be presented and discussed, to better demonstrate what might feasibly be achieved with differing resources and photographic collections.

How can archivists and conservators with limited funds ensure the best care for plans and drawings through packaging solutions? Inspired by DIY culture and underpinned by the principles of sustainability, our workshop will explore ways to improve access to architectural and technical drawings by upcycling their existing packaging.

The workshop will bring together practical exercises in identifying the needs of drawings and crafting new enclosures from old packaging, with a whistlestop history of the development of drawings and exploration of the ethical questions of minimal intervention, the value of copies, and their value as information assets.

Architectural and technical drawings are a rich resource in archival collections, but due to their physical characteristics—often intrinsic evidence of their lives as working documents—and the capacity needed to provide access they are left underutilised. While digitisation has been touted as a solution to these issues, many repositories do not have access to the funds or specialisms needed for a large-scale digitisation programme or the lasting costs of one. By taking a step back and looking at how to improve physical access to the drawings with existing resources, we might begin to build the evidence for future interventive investment in these treasured items.

Through this hand-on workshop, we will show how conservators and archivists collaborating across disciplines and organisations can bring together their knowledge and principles to improve access to plans and drawings.