THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Menders - it is to them that the society owes in a big way for preserving its past for the future. Even when digitisation and micro-filming have entered the scene, menders are the healers who conserve old documents and data at the State Archives Department through scientific modes of conservation. Their service, however, remains unappreciated which is why the All-India Archives Meet has put up a conservation clinic to showcase their role before the public.
There are more than 18 menders in the Archives regional office in Thiruvananthapuram. Currently they are working on Travancore Gazette documents which is being conserved using tissue paper method.
"It is like a doctor treating his patient. You should know the type of degradation that has happened and the type of medicines - chemicals - to be used, the dosage, the duration of applying the chemicals and so on. Or else, it would be totally damaging," says C S Ashokraj, a mender of the department.
Ashok says that there is a lot of preparation work that goes into the main conservation work. First, the paper to be preserved should be dusted using cotton. The moisture and dust together produces acidity and de-acidification should be done. If the paper is torn in bits here and there, then it is the silver fish (a kind of insect that preys on paper) that has done the damage, if the paper has holes from top to bottom, then it will be caused by bookworm and if the edges are eaten into, the culprits are bookless worms, Ashok says.
Barium hydroxide and methanol are mixed in a specific ratio, and is then brushed on the paper and the tissue is pressed on it. The chiffon repair and hand-lamination methods, earlier used by the menders, are not in use nowadays.
"Archives Department might need the document back anytime for any purpose. So the work should be reversible. It is not possible in these two methods and hence we largely follow the tissue paper method which is reversible," says Unnikrishnan Nair, preservation supervisor in the Archives Department.
Tissue paper method is a simple process using Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose. When it is mixed with boiling water and the preserved document is sunk into it, the tissue and paper are separated. These tissues come from Japan to the National Archives, Delhi, from where it is distributed to regional offices.
"Too much light can harm old documents. Also if the tissue paper gets too tight, it could bend or tear and hence it should not get exposed to direct sunlight. There are several things to be taken care of. Preservation is not at all an easy task," Ashok says.
Though modern technologies have come up, it is too expensive for the State Archives Department to adopt.
Menders are the troubleshooters now and would remain so until a day when technology takes over the task.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com