Before we begin the preservation process, we evaluate your collection so that we can provide an accurate estimate and overview of the personalized services applicable to your project. After we evaluate your collection, we provide you with a detailed written proposal and cost estimate.

Once we receive your approval, we collaborate with you to iron out your priorities and expectations for your collection. Together, we sign an Archival Agreement that outlines our services and allows you to formally retain our services. Once the paperwork is signed, your deposit is due, and we collect your project materials so we can get started!

Now that we have your collection in our hands, we get to work. At this stage, our team does a deep dive into your materials. We assess the condition and process the collection into related materials. We also gather contextual and biographical information, identify any gaps in the collection, assign preservation needs, and create a preliminary inventory. Finally, we create a workflow based on your collection’s needs.

Here, we take everything we learned from the survey to create the formal organizational structure. Collections are described at the collection, series, subseries, folder, and/or item levels, with increasingly detailed information provided at each subordinate level. Using this arrangement, we create the Collection Overview, which contextualizes the materials and breadth of the collection.

As materials are arranged, we record an inventory of the collection on a spreadsheet that will be delivered to you upon completion of the project. The inventory contains all agreed-upon fields, which typically includes Series, Date, Format, Title, Description, and Location. The inventory also includes information about the collection that provides context, promotes discovery, and supports the preservation of records.

During the preparation stage, we provide preservation treatments to the materials. This can involve paper mending, cleaning, flattening, deacidification, and rebinding among other treatments. If digitization is required, we ensure materials don’t have any folds, obscured text, or other issues that will prevent clear images from being captured.

At this stage we digitize the material if necessary. This process involves converting physical materials into digital formats emphasizing preservation and long-term accessibility. Unlike typical scanning, this process focuses on accuracy, the creation of descriptive metadata, and the careful handling of valuable or historical items to protect their integrity.

Once any stabilization and repair treatments are completed, Monocurate will undertake the final preservation and rehousing of your collection materials. Using archival/museum-quality materials, we support and enclose fragile items, interleave, and isolate any at-risk material to bolster the usability and function of the material for access and to protect the material from future deterioration.

Materials can be rehoused in any number of ways. We move your treated, digitized, organized collection material into custom created museum quality storage, enclosures, and boxes that have no acid, alum rosin sizing, lignin containing groundwood, or volatile plasticizers in order to provide protection from handling, light, dust, and moisture. Regardless of how it’s housed, we guarantee that it will be done in the way that best fits your collection’s needs.

We contact you with a final update once we are wrapping up your project. We provide you with a link to schedule an appointment for pick up at our secured offices. During the pick-up appointment, we walk you through your collection deliverables and answer any final questions. Along with your collection, we provide you with handouts that detail care and storage best practices for your collection.