Paper Documents

Place paper documents flat on a table to consult them and handle them as little as possible.
Fragile paper documents can be supported on a sheet of acid free paper to prevent further damage from occurring.
If looking through a bundle of documents, carefully handle each document individually. Never disturb the order documents are in and don't try to even up the documents by banging their edges on a table.
Store items in acid free folders and boxes.
Avoid resting paper on documents when writing as this will cause indents on the documents which are difficult to remove.
Newspapers can be highly acidic due to the low quality paper used to produce them. For this reason, newspaper should be stored away from other items, in an acid free folder or box to prevent the acid migrating to other documents.
Photocopies should also be stored in acid free paper or folders as this will help to stop acid migrating. Photocopies should not be stored in plastic wallets as over time, the plasticisers break down and will lift the ink off the paper.