Ensure that maintenance in your home is kept up to date and material stored in protected areas. If, however, you are unlucky enough to have material damaged in a disaster, contact a conservator immediately for advice on how to salvage it. This will ensure that you can save as much of your collection as possible. Remember, when you find a problem, investigate it straight away, rectify it and deal with the affected material as soon as possible. Your own family collection could benefit from preservation copying.
Most families have irreplaceable letters, photographs and memorabilia within their care.
Often this type of material is in demand from other family members which can result in damage from handling. Making copies available to these types of requests will help in the long term preservation of the items. Photocopies of letters and documents in colour or black and white can be made easily and photographs can be copied for display purposes. Microfilm can also be used to copy material and is particularly useful for books, however it can only be satisfactorily viewed through a microfilm reader. If making copies be sure to keep any negatives and extra photocopies safe this will prevent you having to make copies from the original again and always ensure that your originals are safely stored.