The Stuff of History

It is a simple truth that without records there would be no Archives of Ontario. And without the Archives we would know far less about the cultural, political, and economic histories of Ontario and its people.

The Archives' collection dates from the 18th century and is comprised of a wide variety of materials and formats ranging from textual records, maps and architectural plans to photographs, documentary art and audiovisual media.

2003 is our hundredth year of service to Ontarians and a century of collecting has resulted in an enormous amount of material. The amount of textual material alone is hard to imagine but try to picture paper records placed in stacks as high as the CN Tower (the tallest free-standing structure in the world at 1,815 feet/553 metres). All the textual records currently in the Archives' care would result in 137 stacks of paper that tall. This quantity of records continues to grow by approximately 15,000 cubic feet annually.

Add to that over 3.5 million photographs, 32,000 maps plus all the other types of records mentioned above, and you will begin to get a sense of the scope of the collection.

Preserving a collection this diverse and comprehensive is a formidable challenge and requires knowledge of a wide range of materials and how they change and interact with each other over time.

Click to see a larger image (74K)

For example, an ordinary black-and-white photographic print is a complex object that may contain:

• cellulose (the paper support)
• metal (the light-sensitive silver halide suspended in the emulsion that forms the image)
• protein (the gelatin medium containing the silver)
• plastic (the polyester coating, on contemporary prints, which gives the glossy finish)

The Preservation Unit

The Preservation Services Unit at the Archives is a key member of the team that holds this cultural asset in trust for the people of Ontario. The staff members that comprise the Unit are highly skilled conservators devoted to preserving the physical integrity of the entire Archives collection including the Government of Ontario Art Collection which is comprised of almost 2,500 historical and contemporary works of art.

Conservation itself is a small and highly specialized profession that is taught in a handful of universities and colleges across Canada. It unites scientific knowledge about the physical nature of artefacts (especially how and why they deteriorate) with traditional artistic skills such as those of painters and bookbinders.

Click to see a larger image (64K)
A conservator carefully brushing dust and
dirt from an original document. These types
of contaminants can be disfiguring, as
well as a source of mould.

Conservators do not do restoration (i.e. try to make an old item look new again). Professional conservation ethics mandate that the story of an artefact’s life should be preserved as much as possible – this includes evidence of its use such as bookplates, scratches, marginalia, etc.

The primary goal of conservators is to prevent damage to collections. This is achieved by paying close attention to environmental conditions, security, storage and handling practices. If items come into the collection damaged or are damaged during use, conservators intervene to stabilize them.

Follow these links to learn more about preservation.

• Enemies of History
• Keeping the Enemies at Bay
• Life in the Lab
• Sound and Moving Images
• Caring for Your Own Archival Collection
• Glossary
• Reference Material
  

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