Loose material in or from collection items

Extraneous items sometimes make their way into bound collection materials. These can be loose ("laid in") or affixed or attached in some way. Current Folger policy for vault items favors keeping anything relating to the history, readership, or use of materials with the materials themselves, making reasonable accommodation against damage.

If you find something in a Folger book

Please notify Reading Room staff if you find something loose in a book, modern or rare, that we don't seem to know about.

Staff procedures

In case of doubt about any of these instructions, consult supervisor, curator, or conservator

Loose items

Loose items to be kept in book

• Keep loose material with the book unless instructed otherwise
• Keep laid-in material where it is found, as long as it doesn't put stress on the binding
• Make a copy note, giving a summary of what and where found
• Write shelfmark and location on the item itself, using standard procedures for writing on collection materials
• If loose item is small, very acidic (for example, newspaper clippings), or otherwise may damage the rare material, fold buffered paper around it and keep it in place
• Add an attention flag
• For laid-in items considered too bulky to keep in place, or in case of any doubt, consult curator

Loose items to be removed to a file

• Organic materials which might prove detrimental to the book, such as flowers, leaves, etc., remove to the curatorial file and make copy note (consult curator if there's evidence of mold or pests)
• Accession/acquisition-based items, such as previous bookseller descriptions, or shipping labels
  • relating to Mr. and Mrs. Folger's purchase, remove to case file
    • if there isn't a file for that case number yet, start one
    • if the case number is unknown, remove to curatorial file
    • make a copy note with general description of the removed material; it is not usually necessary to indicate where the material was found
  • relating to Folger Library purchase, discard; do not make a copy note (or remove to curatorial file and make copy note?) Resolve

Loose items to be silently discarded

• Accession slips
• Processing flags
• Case file flags Confirm
• Blank slips of paper that may or may not have been bookmarks of former owners Confirm
• Vendors' descriptions

Loose items getting their own cataloging

• Catalog the item(s) as you normally would, but also add:
  • 561 or 852ǂz Removed from: Creator, title, date, location within said material (shelfmark, with copy-specific information, if applicable)
  • Local work added entry for the larger work/former host (700 name/title or 730) with ǂ5DFo

Items attached or affixed

• Leave in place unless damage is actively occurring
• Insert buffered paper or ask conservation to mount Japanese paper to protect from metal pins or other rusty things, acidic paper, etc.
• If conservation staff must remove an attached item, remove to curatorial file and make a copy note giving a summary of what and where found
• If the attached item is to get its own cataloging, follow the procedures for Hybrid material

Special considerations

• Consult the curator of manuscripts about extraneous manuscript material