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I was fortunate to attend a workshop called: Enclosures for Preservation and Beyond at The North Bennett Street School in Boston, December 3-4. The first thing I discovered was that the school had moved three years ago, from the original location (on North Bennett Street) to a nearby location on North Street. This provided the opportunity for a brisk walk along the Boston harbor.

Bill Hanscom teaching at The North Bennett Street School

The workshop was led by Bill Hanscom, Preservation Technician at the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University. Bill was focused and knowledgeable and led us through a process in which I made 7 successively larger enclosures, which nested together and finally all fit inside a clamshell box.

The first enclosure was a simple paper storage wrapper (much like gift wrapping) used to protect a vulnerable book until it can be treated. I next made a slipcase for books with detached boards, which keeps loose boards together with the text block. The third enclosure I made was an inset tray with a case wrapper which is used to protect small objects and also give them a larger presence on the shelf. Enclosure number four was a true slipcase, which is used to protect small groupings or fragile items. The fifth enclosure was a four-flap enclosure, built with a tab and slot, which closes without any other help. The sixth enclosure I created was a corrugated drop-spine box, which was made from corrugated archival board. The final enclosure, a clamshell box held all of these six enclosures together. I can use this group of seven enclosures as a reference collection when I create boxes for unusual or uniquely shaped materials.

This workshop was very useful. I learned to make a series of enclosures, all of which I can use in our Special Collections & Archives in the future.