How to guides

These how to guides can help you preserve and care for your collections at home or work.

Interior view of a house at Indooroopilly showing a collection of books and family photographs. There is a small table in the centre covered with a lace tablecloth set with teacups and saucers.

Photographer unknown
Interior view of Ashley, a residence at Indooroopilly
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Negative number: 73864

Looking after your collections

These information guides offer advice on preserving and storing your precious items.

General care of your collections - Overview
Paper based collections
Books and bound material
Parchment documents
Caring for your collections - photographs
Digital prints
Magnetic media (audio cassettes, VHS and magnetic tape)
Motion picture film
Preservation planning for large collections
Children's artwork collections (children’s artwork on paper)

Digital Preservation

Learn how to preserve your digital photographs, emails, recordings, and documents.

Photographer: Grant Collins
State Library of Queensland Reformatting team staff member digitising items with the Kirtas bookscaner
State Library of Queensland

John Bellas carrying ruined books in his flooded home at Fairfield, 2011

Photographer: Troy Hansen
John Bellas carrying a pile of ruined books in his flooded home at Fairfield, 2011
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Image number: 27804-0001-0013

Disaster recovery

These guides outline steps to salvage water-damaged paper, book, photographic, and audiovisual collections.

Preventive Conservation

These guides assist with planning for preservation before disaster strikes.

A line of men standing with their dogs outside large wooden doors.

Photographer unknown
Rat dogs pictured with their handlers, ca. 1905
Negative number: 33420