We generally keep all the items together rather than separate them. Joan, while my preference in boxing is to keep artifacts separate from the papers (e.g. box 1 papers, box 2 papers, box 3 "artifacts")...many of these are small items and almost don't merit a box. I have visited a museum archives which decided to order boxes to FIT each of the small sizes...their storage area was horrendous as on the shelves there could be 5-10 boxes of different sizes....stacked much like the old hat boxes of closets. This created all kinds of problems in moving, shifting, falling, nooks for dust, etc. Guess what I'm saying is to try to keep your boxes uniform. You can put small boxes inside standard document boxes....I would not try to have lots of different size boxes on the shelf. Dean Dean DeBolt University Librarian Special Collections/West Florida Archives John C. Pace Library University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 850-474-2213 850-474-3338 (fax) -----Original Message----- From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joan Denman/ WW2 Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 9:21 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Where to store Artifacts in collections? Dear Colleagues: When we first started collecting documents and photos we separated them in the hopes of having a colder facility for the photos and negatives. So far, that hasn't happened and we are starting to incorporate the photos back in with the documents, while keeping them in separate folders and sleeves (the negatives will remain in sleeves in file cabinets. This would make it easier for researchers to view the complete collection of an individual. Over the years we have received many artifacts or three-dimensional objects and they have been housed separately. But, I am reconsidering this and thinking about incorporating objects in with the documents and photos. This will not only keep all of a person's collection in one area (unless they have a huge object or books which are shelved separately) but it will free up some space. Do any of you have any experience with objects and have any suggestions? You may contact me either on or off the list, and I will gladly summarize the responses for the whole list. Many thanks, Joan E. Denman Senior Archivist Institute on World War II & the Human Experience Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-2200 850-644-9033 ph www.fsu.edu/~ww2 A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>