Introduction (2 of 6)
What factors affect the choice of packaging?
If an object is going to be placed in storage then it needs to be adequately supported to ensure that it does not get damaged. It also needs to be protected from the storage environment to ensure its long term preservation. The extent of support and protection that the object will require will depend both on the storage environment and the object itself, so both of these should be assessed.
The storage environment
The questions to be addressed when assessing a storage environment are outlined below.
- What are the environmental conditions in the storage area?
- What storage furniture is available?
- How crowded is the storage space?
- How often and for what reason are the objects accessed?
The object
The packaging chosen should also be appropriate to the object itself, so its size, shape, material and condition should all be considered.
Finally, as the object is likely to stay in this packaging on a long term basis, packing materials chosen must be inert – so that they will not cause the object to degrade over time.
