I would recommend anyone collecting valuable paper spend some time on the web sites at university products and/or Gaylord looking at conservation supplies.  Conservation supplies are not cheap, but neither are many of the items collected and discussed here.

Thanks Bracton.  That sounds better.

Martin

Buying non archival materials from an art store is really not much of a step up from using what you can buy from wal mart.  Conservation is predicated on the premise that everything done is reversible, neutral, minimal and non obtrusive.  If the goal is to prevent black sticky residue from mucking up your box... most anything will do.  If the goal is to "repair" it so that it holds fast and isn't unattractive, most anything but electrical tape or duct tape will do.  For those who intend to preserve items for posterity, a conservation approach is more in order.  That can involve any number of steps including preparing glue with heat, japanese rice paper hinges, acid free boards/boxes etc.  

University Products and Gaylord are leading suppliers to libraries and archives.  They also have manuals, videos, and web based information to help people with their projects.

Also, learning a bit about conservation would help most collectors immensely.  For instance, I just had a framed work arrive and there is no question someone spent hundreds  on the frame job, including a full sheet of uv protecting plex.  However, what they really accomplished was to protect the image from uv light, meanwhile trapping moisture and the off gassing from the glues used to assemble the frame (and the chemicals used to size and color a nice looking velvet liner) into a small space on the surface of the work.   A well intentioned long-term disaster.

It seems to me that the community here is both organized and mailing stuff back and forth so frequently that splitting orders of archival folders, backing boards and supplies would be easy.   In some cases if all that is needed is a jar of hyde glue and some hinges for most repairs, someone could probably set up a cottage industry making careful repairs for everyone else.