Part One: Cleaning, Repair and Digitisation
The State Library of Queensland preservation labs are a study in ordered chaos. Everything is catalogued - twice - with an exhibit reference and artefact number. Team members are responsible for particular artefacts and they keep their stations prepped with tools of the task. Rolled-up maps await repairs and flattening, many of them already drycleaned and ready for the more meticulous restoration processes. Japanese paper is in regular use to "infill" tears and holes, where more similar paper cannot be found. The paper is coloured to match as closely as possible to the original document. If pieces survive, they are kept with the document to ease repair work.
Drycleaning paper is just one of the processes the SLQ's donated maps will undergo, and it's hard on your hands so task-switching is a must. Too much drycleaning can also be bad for the artefact, obscuring or erasing pencil marks. Graphite smudges, though, get special treatment. A Staedtler white eraser is grated, then brushed over the surface of smudged paper with a lightly weighted bundle of lead wrapped in cloth, which cleans without rubbing out intentional pencilled notations. Often these notations are the most interesting part of the map or plan - signatures, notes, measurements, dates. An old-fashioned shaving brush is used to gently sweep away the eraser.
