Putting It Into Practice

Evaluating Your Collections

Scrapbooks

Several items in this scrapbook are faded and yellowed, and some items have become detached.

Various types of scrapbooks are found in cultural collections. News clipping scrapbooks are common, as are personal scrapbooks that contain a variety of materials, including documents, photographs, pamphlets, and pressed flowers.

Scrapbooks, being composite objects, exhibit various problems common to documents, bound volumes, and photographic materials. Their pages may be brittle and weak, photographs may be faded and stained, news clippings may be yellowed, items may have become detached from the pages due to adhesive failure, the pages may have been stained by adhesives, and the bindings may be broken or otherwise damaged.