thoughts for a pre-recorded con panel: archival storage for your yaoi

[miscellanium]

i mentioned this idea on fedi but wanted to jot down an outline somewhere it'd be easier to format while still being open to public comment. if there's anything you think isn't already addressed here but would be helpful to see discussed pls lmk! there are no stupid questions, but i don't have the bandwidth to do the live q&a now lol.

alternatively, if anyone has fannish horror stories about storage they want to share i'm happy to include them in the presentation and discuss how they might've been avoided.

archival storage for fans on a budget (workshop the title, i'm terrible at these) - individual-scale solutions framed in a way that's accessible/relevant to fen rather than normie grannies

INTRO

• dammit jim i'm an archivist not a conservator, not giving professional advice, some of this will be out of your control and that's ok. some of the solutions may be out of your current budget but let's take ibuprofen together and make informed decisions
• basics of agents of deterioration, inherent vice

CORE

• focus on paper-based (doujinshi, etc) but touch on things like pins, figurines, and other physical media (itabags!)
• most important things to avoid if possible (touch on off-gassing, etc. eta: including plastic sleeves, thanks tabby)
• what can you do on a budget? you do not need museum-grade environmental monitors.
  • location in some ways more crucial than the containers
  • give irl examples: larry archive, arcv doujins, hellsing merch?
  • binders&c for display purposes? paging through lobby cards etc.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• cataloging as you go
  • easy DIY collection management solutions
• unbinding bound media: when is it a good idea? how to do it safely, how to label pages if needed (pencils, erasers to recommend)
• address ipm? unlikely to be a concern for most fans (hopefully) but share a resource
• not to be a corpo shill but... recommended vendors for officially archival-grade supplies

Comments

[kradeelav]

oh i love this idea!! mom and i are currently dealing with the aftermath of accidentally storing a bunch of photo albums in an area that gets a lot more heat in the last year than it ever did (fallen trees) and it uh, melted some of the sticky stuff together oops LOL. so it's fresh in mind!

* another thought might be displaying one's doujins in a way where they won't get affected by sun fade? (maybe suggestions on rotating them, etc?)

* digital archiving in addition to physical with the whole 3-2-1 backup rule? digital hoarders reddit might have some good resources..

* (don't feel like ya gotta answer but off-gassing and ipm are unfamiliar terms to me so there might need to be a moment in the panel for explainations there.)

great idea and all in support of this. :D

[tabbbywright]

It might also be good to touch on the fact that JP paper sizes =/= USA paper sizes! Not a ton of detail, but maybe common doujinshi sizes (in your experience) and a quick visual of like, how an A4 sized doujin would fit in one of those clear plastic comic book sleeves.

Also as far as itabags go: the fact that putting washi tape on one sided keychains can destroy the print and thusly is not a great archival method lol

[tempural]

ooh one weird story I have is.. this pair of vinyl (aka plastic polyseter) shorts I had completely fell apart after 10 years in the closet :P The plastic coating fell off the backing material, which is very typical for "vegan leather" type material. I wanted to preserve it cuz it had a sticker (probably also vinyl?) stuck on it by the band I like during a concert. So I guess you'll have some knowledge of vinyl preservation since that's a common material for itabags.

Wonder if you maybe had suggestions for like "fannish clothing" like t-shirts with prints and such?

[miscellanium]

was already planning to talk about how you need to be careful with plastic sleeves, but will be sure to mention the importance of measuring before going all in on buying storage materials. easy to overlook!

oh noooo not the tape.... i hope that didn't happen to you :( so many people have no idea how damaging pressure-sensitive tape can be. will def talk about it somewhere.

[miscellanium]

yeah pvc/vinyl is diabolical from a preservation standpoint lol. the chemicals used to make it softer also contribute to it breaking down more easily. i'll have to think about the best way to handle vinyl-on-vinyl in that kind of situation.

i can def talk a bit about clothing! are you thinking about items that are still seeing active wear, or more things that are ready to be retired?

[tabbbywright]

Luckily it hasn't happened to me! But I've seen many horror stories... 😔

[miscellanium]

oh geez that's rough about the photo albums. fingers crossed some of it is salvageable :( light/heat/humidity damage can sneak up fast so i will absolutely be discussing that.

i just finished watching a citruscon panel about digital archiving and it talked about a few different ways to back up collections and the dangers of digital rot, so there's already some fans focusing on that! but it didn't really address storing the storage (lol) and there were some people in the chat who didn't seem to really understand digital rot so there's always room for repetition there.

ipm is an acronym and i'm lazy about capitalizing orz - integrated pest management. so i'll talk a bit about bugs and stuff.

this is all brainstorming for a different online fujin convention i'm helping to plan for dreamwidth, not discord, so if you think you might be interested as a participant and/or presenter you can keep an eye on retrorot - the community is empty right now, but it'll be a smaller-scale 18+ con for media that's 20+ years old. public updates will be made there.

[kradeelav]

oh wow thank ya for the heads up, subscribed for sure! love the idea of having it on dreamwidth; i like the idea of citruscon in theory but having it on discord always made me feel a way.

nodding at the other notes, seems like you've got a fantastic overview / outline to work off on!