How to flatten paper

[HunterMann]

Trying to figure out WHY you used Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock in this video. Maybe trying to make the video hip and therefore somehow making paper flattening more appealing to young people? Goofy, man goofy!

[careyre]

"Every time she kiss me, tremble like a little old bug..."  Some thought must be given to the aural portion of this video. There is no reason to assault the viewer with such horrible music. It is perverse. A college aged student presenting a useful video to the sounds of Ricky Nelson - 30 year old schlock. My head is shaking. My knees are weak.

[HunterMann]

@careyre I agree! What an absurd music soundtrack! The rockabilly version of Roll Over Beethoven had me falling off my chair in horror! I think they were trying to make this a vocation film that would make paper flattening appeal to more young people. Rockin' around the clock music and tattoo'd college girl to demonstrating the paper flattening method must have seemed like a sure fire thing to the producer. Goofy, man.... goofy!

[kemcmahon1983]

@HunterMann Actually, many libraries and organizations that handle paper no longer use white gloves because it increases the risk of damage to sensitive documents. The fact that they are tattooed or college girls really has no effect on the video whatsoever. People with tattoos aren't necessarily less intelligent or capable of being important historicists. One of the girls is now a PhD student at an ivy league. Google "should sensitive documents be handled with gloves".

[laobhaise7]

it's great that an effort is made to look after these architectural drawings, however, as a fellow paper conservator, i would not agree with publicising this method of humidifying paper sheets as the technique is not standard and the results not entirely sucessful. it is very DIY, DO NOT do this at home with any precious documents.

[HunterMann]

@laobhaise7 Yes, and how about the fact that the tattoo'd college girls in the video are not wearing archival gloves while doing this work? Shame! Please take note: Do NOT try this at home!

[ArchivistDream]

Thank you for the great video, both for content & production. I hope you will cover flattening large black & white aged photo rolls in the future.

[papergrace]

I'm glad to see these architectural drawings being made more accessible and getting preserved for posterity. However, there are safer methods of handling and flattening paper and linen objects than the techniques demonstrated here. As a paper conservator who knows the risks, I feel uneasy thinking of people watching this video and trying some DIY without proper hands-on training or professional feedback and supervision.