Light damage

I'm moving a bit away from normal College history fact for this entry. First I have to credit my husband with the idea for this post. He was in my office and noticed some faded pictures tacked on my bulletin board and asked how old they were. He was shocked to find out they're just 3 years old - "they look like something my mom has from the 70s".

Here is the original image as taken in the fall of 2005 right before we moved to our newly renovated archives space in the lower level of Oesterle Library. (just a note -all the little green tags were prepping for the move - we don't actually have those all over the place now!)



This image is a scan I did today of an ink-jet print onto photo paper that I used for a display in fall of 2005. I've left these photos tacked up on my bulletin board under flourescent lights since then. And to be honest, not as any full-on experiment - more, it's just a reminder of how cramped we used to be - I completely and every day marvel at my new space. Who knew I could get so excited about shelving and tables?!?

I'm not specifically a preservation specialist, but I did make you aware of the impermanence of home ink-jet printers. I'm not saying don't use them - they're great for convenience and what they can do. I just want to point out that photographic prints from these are generally far more susceptible to light damage (and you probably already know what happens if water gets dumped on them) - so you will have the knowledge to be careful about storage and access if your prints are something you want to keep long-term.

I do encourage anyone on campus that is having photographs made for framing and hanging on the wall to invest in professional processing. While it's all mostly digital now, the product that you're able to get from the professional processing machines are far more permanent than what you can do at home. And, especially if you're paying to have something framed - it's worth the extra step of paying for the photo as well!