Over Wintersession 2020, Preservation Services participated in Unabridged, a 5-day library master class for GSAS and DCE graduate students to teach them vital skills for conducting their own research. Part of the course was dedicated to using archival materials in a special collections reading room. Priscilla Anderson (Senior Preservation Librarian), Debra Cuoco (Paper Conservator for Special Collections) and Oa Sjoblom (Graduate Conservation Intern) lead a brief introduction to careful handling of archival materials and books before the class examined the sample collections provided with their teachers, James Capobianco of Houghton Library and Jenny Gotwals of Schlesinger Library.

Topics covered in the Handle with Care workshop included types of damage to look for when handling items in the reading room and how to properly use cradles and weights. After demonstrating a range of issues and protocols, Priscilla, Deb, and Oa, worked with the students as they handled the sample collections.

The goal of the workshop was to give the students the tools they need to carefully and responsibly handle archives and special collections items in reading rooms. We hope that with this training they have the added confidence to dive into their research and explore all the collections Harvard has to offer!