‘Like for like’ approach in restoration

Undesirable storage practices in the past made it difficult to restore the KWH medical records. Staff used to fold and pack the historical documents in envelopes and store them in the record store. The archives became dilapidated and fragile due to serious insect infestation. Practices of using plastic tape and bandage for sticking the papers also caused undesirable condition of the medical records. Water damage also caused papers clinging together and discoloured. ‘Like for like’ approach was adopted to repair historical archives. It took one month to repair one register, from the development of a restoration plan for the tattered archive to the actual restoration of document to its previous states. Dr Eric Cheung, Hospital Chief Executive of KWH is grateful for the contributions the professional conservation team made in restoring these invaluable historical records and the stored archives. The records are a treasure trove to facilitate the public to study and understand the history of Hong Kong medical services.

1. Use nitrogen chamber for pest control. Examine the status of the document.

2. Separate a book into pages. Remove stains and dust.

3. Book cover: select a suitable type of cloth, blend a colour scheme, dye the cloth and dry.

4. In-pages: mount with Zha Hua, a kind of Chinese Xuan paper. Attached to a drying board for flattening and dry it on wall.

5. Fine cut and stack the document neatly.

6. Resew the cover and in-pages into a book.