Restoration
As guardian of the record, you are to be congratulated for giving your time and energy to a lasting investment in your community for future generations.
As we all know not every piece of paper warrants long-term preservation. Your records, however, do! The fact of the matter is that without a proactive plan to “maintain” and preserve these records...they will be lost.
As towns and counties across America earmark funding for automation and welcome the benefits conferred by new recording and indexing technology. Remember the obvious limitations of every form of reproduction and the continuing need for the handwritten original, upon which our new systems are based.
Not only do our originals provide the standard for judging the reproductions; they also contain bits of information, not captured on microfilm or disc. This is precisely the reason title companies, attorneys and genealogists are vigilant regarding the protection of the information embodied in the old (original) forms.
As the country approaches the electronic future with this in mind, more and more originals are saved, thus ensuring the evolution of even better electronic forms.
A Kofile Preservation representative will schedule a time to survey your records on-site. There is no charge for this service. Included within proposal are both recommendations and the price to implement. When comparing this proposal with any other, please compare the prices for individual books and not totals, as the number of books surveyed and procedures to be performed may vary.
As you work with Kofile Preservation, you will gain valuable knowledge as to why your records are in danger. In addition you will prepare yourself for the questioning you will undergo before your finance committee.
Acidity
Acidity Is the major cause of paper deterioration and must be dealt with if the records are to be preserved. The deacidification process, which halts the inevitable self destruction of acidic paper, should be considered whenever conservation or even long term storage of unique records is evaluated.
Our general recommendations for the conservation of records include deacidification, mending and reinforcement of paper as necessary (with repair or replacement of index tabs where indicated), resewing, rebinding or archival grade polyester encapsulation, as appropriate.
Digital Imaging (Scanning to CD).
Digital formats offer very efficient means of storing large bits of information, but its promise is not without peril. Large quantities of digital information are at risk of disappearing or becoming inaccessible. The media itself on which the images are stored is deteriorating, or the hardware/software needed to retrieve valuable information no longer exists.
