Insects destroy Idaho county's historic documents

Image as appeared with original article

I never like to read an article with the above headline!  That tells me that future generations will have fewer historic documents to use in their research!

We often worry about temperature and humidity, fire, water damage and much more and yet, there is the ever-present issue of insects and the damage they can wreak!

Think about your own house.  Think about leaving it uninhabited for a few weeks.  When you return, odds are that you will find that many types of insects and other critters have taken up residence.  I remember when my children were young watching a program which pretty much showed that cockroaches can practically survive anything – possibly even an apocalypse.  Given that, they are always something we, the larger genealogical community, need to be aware of and have respect for as we work to preserve either our personal historical papers or the archives of a larger community.

So, if there was ever “more” motivation needed for why digitizing documents is a critical priority for the repositories where they are held, this article might help!

Editor’s Note: As this was being written, another article was brought to my attention!  Thousands of Court FilesDamaged By Water, Mold. Fortunately, mold can typically be handled and the documents are not necessarily destroyed and unrecoverable!  The same is not true for bugs or other critters who have ingested paper or other formats!

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