Keeping your maps safe

[Tonnichiwa]

Hi everyone.

I'm looking for some advice for paper maps. I've got some very old (as in 28 year old) maps from the TSR company for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game. The problem is that they came in boxed sets that folded the maps so they could fit in the box. Now, 28 years later, they are prone to tearing down the fold crease if you try to un-fold them.

So I'm wondering what kind of preservation techniques people use to keep their maps safe from this? To make things a little more complicated, some of these maps are double sided as well. I would like to state that I don't like lamination because eventually the lamination gets old, splits open at the edges, and rips your maps when it does so.

So what ideas do people have for making the maps usable at the same as keeping them preserved?

Looking forward to hearing your ideas

[Josiah VE]

I have no experience for doing this at all, the first thing that came to mind for me is sandwiching it in between two pieces of glass, that way you can see both sides and it is protected.. Would that work?
It would be nice for display, basically like a two sided picture frame.

[Tonnichiwa]

Thanks Josiah VE. Hmm. I wonder what the cost of something like that would be per map? I've got around 20 to 30 maps that need preserved.

[Josiah VE]

Thanks Josiah VE. Hmm. I wonder what the cost of something like that would be per map? I've got around 20 to 30 maps that need preserved.

Well, that's a lot of maps. I have absolutely no idea the cost. You'd have to look into it more.

You should post some of them sometime, it would be interesting to see.

[Tonnichiwa]

I always get nervous about that kind of thing due to copyright laws, yet I see them all over the internet. But, with the new DM's guild thing wotc is doing, I might be able to.

I think I might try two pieces of plexiglass. That might be less expensive.

[Korash]

Back in the day, Architects and Engeneers either rolled up their plans. Either that or use large shallow drawers to store the drawing flat and protected.....nopt sure that helps, but it might be something to look into...

[Tonnichiwa]

Thanks Korash, I had forgotten about that. I probably won't do it that way but thank you for reminding me.

[Falconius]

Definitely use the plexiglass and not actual glass. Real glass can shatter and tear the maps. I'd suggest using cardboard or that thin hardboard (like the stuff they make pegboard out of) for the backing. There is also that thick clear plastic that people use to cover table cloths and such, it would be much cheaper than plexi.

[Tonnichiwa]

Oh, thats a great idea Falconius. I'll do that for the single sided ones. I hadn't thought about broken glass tearing them. I'm glad you brought that up, thank you.

[waldronate]

Just make sure that it's an archival-grade material. Cheap paper like TSR used is pretty nasty stuff and will eventually turn brownish and just disintegrate all on its own. Sticking it onto something like cheap cardboard (or hardboard) might actually accelerate the process because those materials are often highly acid unless you get archival stuff. I have a 150 year old family bible that's in good shape because it is quality paper. There is a newsprint clipping from 60 years ago tucked into the pages and acids leaching from the cheap newsprint have burned brown patches onto a few pages to each side of where the clipping lives. On the plus side, you can get buffered paper folders that will actually absorb an neutralize acids as they leach out (again, pricey and also opaque).

Even plastic folders can be bad for archiving things. Cheap plastics are often full of plasticizers that keep the plastic flexible. Over time, these plasticizers can leach out and stain things. They also oxidize and can for nasty things, as well as turning the plastic material brown and rendering it brittle. Good-quality stuff is expensive, but worth it if you want to keep things intact. http://museumservicescorporation.myb...-3-0-mil-roll/ shows that a 5' wide roll of archival polyester film is $4.50 per yard or $300 for a 250' roll (plus tax and shipping, no doubt).

A relatively cheap option that probably isn't too bad is budget poster frames ($10 or so for a. They typically come with a thin clear layer and a cardboard (or hardboard) back. The thin front layer should be fairly sturdy, but it's probably not archival grade.

One other thing to consider is that you can often find things on eBay for cheaper than trying to preserve existing ones. If you have the money and storage space, you can get a copy of the thing that you want to preserve and just leave it in its box while continuing to use the other one. I do this when I want to scan something oversized or when I want good scans of a number of pages in a book. For example, I wanted to scan a map from a module some years back and I bought a sacrificial one, sliced it up and slapped it onto the scanner. It worked really well. Similarly, when I wanted scans from the Atlas of Middle earth, I bought another one, sliced the binding, and scanned the pages I wanted with perfect results.

Note that a modern scanner (or even a cell phone camera these days) will give good results for scanning an item in pieces. If you can get overlap between scans/pictures, then the pieces can be assembled in something like Photoshop or the GIMP and then you have a digital copy forever and ever without worrying about degeneration. It's fair use as long as you don't exhibit or distribute the item.