Rolling With the Plans

Preserving Rolled Maps and Plans for the Future

ROLLING WITH

At the end of 2019, as we began to prepare to pack and move, I was tasked with creating a strategy to rehouse the various collections of rolled maps, architectural plans and technical drawings stored on site at the BC Archives. This was no simple feat, since the archives have more than 4,000 rolled maps and plans.

I’m the archives collections manager, so finding or creating the appropriate housing for records is a large part of my job. When considering housing options for records, there are often challenges such as unusual sizes and formats, different material compositions, and the condition of the records. All these elements are involved in choosing the best housing.

One of the biggest challenges when housing maps and plans is usually size. Best practice for storing maps is to store them flat in folders in map cabinet drawers. But sometimes the best practice just isn’t realistic, especially when you factor in available space, budget and resources.

Given the number of rolled plans we have, it was important for me to prioritize so I didn’t get completely overwhelmed. I decided to focus on plans that were already at risk due to their tight quarters—the ones rolled and stored in long narrow wooden drawers or cubby holes. Then, to narrow my focus even further, I chose one collection—the Ocean Falls series GR-3337: Engineering Office plans and technical drawings. (You can read the description for the collection at search-bcarchives.

royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/engineering-of-

fice-plans-and-technical-drawings.)

THE PLANS

By Beverly Paty

Archives Collections Manager

The part of the collection I was focusing on consists of architectural plans and technical drawings stored in two large wooden containers. One container held 538 plans rolled and crammed into 34 drawers, and the other had 1,246 plans rolled into 70 drawers and a number of open cubby holes.

The things I had to consider during my initial assessment included

ƒ The total number of plans and the dimensions of each plan.

ƒ The formats and material composition of the plans (velum, plastic, diazotype and blue print) and specific storage-need requirements for them.

ƒ Best options for storage: flat or rolled? (What is best for the plan? What is realistic given the space available?)

ƒ Accessibility: Are these records regularly accessed? Should any be digitized before rehousing?

ƒ Will any require conservation work?

ƒ Do we have the necessary supplies for storage, or will they need to be ordered?

ƒ Where will the plans be stored once they are rehoused? On site or off site?

The length and width of the plans varied, but the average was about a metre wide and almost twice as long. Half of the plans were rolled around wooden dowels, and the other half were rolled into drawers or cubby holes with their ends exposed. Sometimes there were more than 20 plans rolled together in one drawer. Most of the plans were blueprints or diazotypes (two photographic processes with different storage needs), some were polyester or acetate plastic film, and a few were velum. I also had to contend with rusty staples, failing adhesives and mould.

I knew I would have to unroll each plan or group of plans to assess their needs and determine the best storage method. If the plans lay flat immediately upon unrolling, they could be housed in large acid-free folders and put into map-cabinet drawers. The rest I rolled around threeinch-diameter tubes (either ethafoam® or cardboard wrapped in polyethylene sheeting). I rolled no more than eight plans

Plans neatly rolled and boxed with twill tape on both ends. Dowels removed from the plans.

per tube, and then I wrapped the entire roll in an acid-free paper. To secure the roll I tied twill tape around both ends and wrote the identifying numbers of the plans on the paper wrapping.

When I completed five new rolls, I stored each group of five in a custom-sized box with Ethafoam® supports. Once all the plans were rolled, boxed and labelled, the hunt for a location to store them began. Due to the size of the containers, this would be no small feat, but locations were found. The next steps were updates to the collections management system and online finding aids.

COVID-19 protocols did prevent the wheels from turning too quickly, and so did some plans requiring conservation treatment, but now that this project is complete, it gives me great satisfaction knowing these plans are housed properly and are safe to move. Now on to the next project.