Linda, I only allow monel staples or rarely, very rarely, stainless steel paper clips. However, my preference is no fastener at all. With a large batch of papers I just use a folder - it does add bulk but is so much better than fasteners. Generally, I find that documents filed together can be distinguished as belonging together. And, I also detest plastiklips - in the five years that I have been here, we have reprocessed collections and removed a waste can full of plastiklips - they were also very damaging to the documents - creating nasty indents - not to mention broken, stuck together, bulky, etc. chuck hill Eastern Kentucky University 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]>