Preservation Supply & Service Vendors

Local/Regional Specialty Vendors
National Specialty Vendors
Other Vendors

Note: This list is not intended to be all-inclusive. A vendor's presence on this list is not an endorsement. Please compare prices and products.

Local/Regional Vendors

Restoration Source
3666 South 2455 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84109
Jeanne English - 801-278-7880
Deirdre Paulsen - 801-278-3638
- storage and album supplies

National Vendors

Archival Products
1801 Thompson
PO Box 1413
Des Moines, Iowa 50316-1413

Phone: 800-526-5640
Fax: 800-220-2397
E-mail: info@archival.com
Website: http://www.archival.com
- enclosures, folders, alkaline board

Conservation Resources
5532 Port Royal Road
Springfield, Virginia 22151

Phone: 800-634-6932
Fax: 703-321-0629
E-mail: sales@conservationresources.com
Website: http://www.conservationresources.com
- storage supplies, conservation lab tools

Gaylord Brothers
Box 4901
Syracuse, New York 13221-4901

Phone: 800-962-9580
Fax: 800-272-3412
Website: http://www.gaylord.com
- storage and conservation supplies, tools, toll-free helpline, pH pens

The Hollinger Corp.
Box 8360
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22404

Phone: 800-634-0491
Fax: 800-947-8814
Email: hollingercorp@earthlink.net
Website: www.hollingercorp.com
(also has a plant in Nevada)
- boxes and other storage supplies, permanent paper

Light Impressions
PO Box 2100 Santa Fe Springs,
CA 90670

Phone: 800-828-6216
Fax: 800-828-5539
E-mail: info@lightimpressions.com
Website: http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com
- storage supplies, conservation supplies & tools, photographic supplies

Metal Edge, Inc.
6340 Bandini Blvd.
Commerce, California 90040

Phone: 800-862-2228
Fax: 888-822-6937
E-mail: info@metaledgeinc.com
Website: http://www.metaledgeinc.com
- boxes and other storage supplies, cold storage kits, conservation supplies & equipment

TALAS
20 West 20th Street
5th Floor
New York, NY 10011

Phone: 212-219-0770
Fax: 212-219-0735
Website: http://www.talas-nyc.com
- conservation supplies, tools

University Products, Inc.
517 Main St.
Box 101
Holyoke, Massachusetts 01041-0101

Phone: 800-628-1912
Fax: 800-532-9281
Email: custserv@universityproducts.com
Website: http://www.universityproducts.com
- storage supplies, conservation supplies, tools, pH pens

Other Vendors

Many non-specialty vendors provide supplies and services that are useful in preserving records. You need to be more cautious with these than you would with a vendor that specifically deals in supplies for libraries and archives. This is not because they're out to cheat you, but because a non-specialty vendor may lack experience and technical knowledge in this area.

Ask service providers such as framers or tape duplicators about their experience working with the medium, you're interested in. You should investigate their references and, if possible, see or hear a sample of their work.

Paper, boxes, and albums

Office paper suppliers often sell "archival" or "permanent" bond paper. Be sure this paper has a pH of at least 7.5, contains a minimum calcium carbonate buffer of 2.5 percent and does not contain lignin. Photo finishers, camera stores, and genealogy suppliers sell boxes and albums that may be acceptable for archival materials. Make sure that these are composed of acid-free, lignin-free paper and non-reactive plastic. Your best bets for photograph storage are things that say they've passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT).

Light filters

Stores that sell lighting fixtures or glass may sell products that filter out ultraviolet radiation. Glass, acrylic, and other material can be impregnated with the filtering substance. Be sure to ask how long the filtering properties last.

Frames

Many professional custom framers provide acid-neutral or alkaline mat board and UV-filtering glass upon request. They generally advertise "museum-quality" or "conservation techniques."

Copying

Many businesses copy or reformat different types of magnetic and photographic media. Look in the yellow pages under such headings as "motion picture producers & studios", "photo finishing custom", "photo finishing retail", or "audiovisual production service". You can also contact the library or learning resources center at a nearby college or university. They may be able to give you a list of local vendors or do the work themselves.

This page was last updated March 9, 2009.