How to look after old or inherited birding notebooks

In short: keep the notebook and everything tucked inside it together, and handle it with clean, dry hands. Store it somewhere cool, dry and dark, on a shelf, not in an attic, basement or garage. Never mend it with tape. Then photograph every page without forcing the spine flat, and only after that, type up the list. Keep the original, always.

A birding notebook is more than a list. It's someone's handwriting, their abbreviations, the places they went and the people they went with. If it belonged to a parent or grandparent, it may be one of the most personal things they left. A little care now keeps it readable for the next generation.

Key facts

• The National Archives advises storing family papers below 75°F and below 65% relative humidity, away from damp basements, garages and hot attics.
• The Library of Congress says freshly washed and dried hands, without lotion, are the safest way to handle books, and advises against forcing a book to lie flat.
• The Library of Congress advises against self-stick tape for repairs, "even if it is marketed as 'archival.'"
• The National Archives says to keep originals after digitizing them, because digital files have their own risks and can easily be lost.

Facts checked: October 2, 2026.

First, keep everything together

Old notebooks may hold more than the pages: a checklist from a 1970s bird walk, a newspaper clipping, a feather, a note from a friend. These are part of the record. Before anything else:

• Don't take things out to tidy them, and don't throw away the envelope or box it came in. Where something was tucked can tell you when it belonged.
• If you must move a loose item, note on a separate sheet, in pencil, which page it came from.
• Write down what you know while you can still ask: whose notebook it was, which years it covers, where they lived. A relative's memory is part of the notebook's story.

Handle it gently

• Clean, dry hands. The Library of Congress says freshly washing and drying your hands, without lotion, is the safest way to handle books. Its preservation FAQ notes that gloves make page-turning difficult and increase clumsiness: the key is clean hands either way.
• Don't force it open. The Library advises against making a book lie completely flat. Prop up the covers instead, so the spine opens at a gentle angle.
• Pencil only. The Library's paper-care advice is to use pencil, not ink, for any marks, and not to use rubber bands, self-adhesive tape or glue on paper.
• No home repairs. The Library's book FAQ is firm: don't use self-stick tape, "even if it is marketed as 'archival.'" For a torn or valuable notebook, it suggests a conservator. The American Institute for Conservation has a directory to help you find one.

Store it safely

The National Archives' advice on family papers, and the Library of Congress's advice on books, agree on the basics:

The National Archives also warns against very dry air: relative humidity below 15% can make paper brittle.

Upright or flat? The Library of Congress says to keep shelved books upright and not leaning. A notebook too big to stand can lie flat, fully supported. A fragile or loose one is safest in a box.

If it gets wet or moldy, the Library's advice is to set it out to air-dry right away and bring the room's temperature and humidity under control. For anything valuable, call a conservator.

Photograph or scan it, carefully

A good set of photos gives you a copy you can read, share and back up, without handling the original again. The National Archives and the Library of Congress both warn against the easy shortcuts:

• No sheet-feeding scanners. The National Archives says automatic-feed scanners aren't suitable for fragile, weak or valuable papers: they can jam and tear them.
• Don't press it flat on a flatbed scanner. For books, the National Archives suggests a copy stand instead, with supports or a cradle so the binding opens comfortably. The Library of Congress warns that pressing a book flat for a picture can break the spine or loosen brittle pages, and that you shouldn't put glass on top to flatten it.
• Use a camera from above. That's what a copy stand does. At home, lay the notebook on a table, open it gently with the covers propped up, and photograph each pair of pages from straight above, in good, even light, out of direct sun.
• Photograph everything in order, including the covers, the inside covers and any loose items, so the photos tell the same story as the notebook.
• Name the files simply, such as "notebook1page001". The National Archives suggests plain letters and numbers, with no spaces, punctuation or symbols.

Then keep the photos in more than one place. The National Archives recommends the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two kinds of storage, with one kept away from home. Our guide to backing up your birding records walks through it.

Keep the original

Photos don't replace the notebook. The National Archives says to keep originals after digitizing, because digital files have their own risks and can easily be lost. The notebook is also the only copy of the handwriting, the pencil pressure and the coffee stains, and they matter.

Then type up the list

Once the pages are safe, you can make the notebook searchable. Our guide on turning a paper list into a spreadsheet shows a simple layout: Species, Date, Place, Notes. A few tips for old notebooks in particular:

• Copy the original wording first. Type the bird name exactly as written, then add today's name in a separate column. Old notebooks may use old names, abbreviations or four-letter codes. Our bird splits and lumps pages explain many name changes.
• Mark what you can't read. Write "(?)" after a word you're unsure of. Don't guess and move on.
• Don't invent dates. If a page only says "spring", type "spring" in the notes, not a made-up day.
• Keep their list as theirs. An inherited notebook is the record of the birds they saw. If you bird too, keep their list separate from your own life list.

Sharing it with the family

A typed list, or a set of photos, is easy to share with brothers, sisters and grandchildren. Before you share widely, read it through once: old notebooks can include names, addresses or private notes about people that the writer never meant for a wider audience.

Some families like to turn a parent's list into something they can hold. There are several ways to print a life list. One is ours: once the list is typed up with species, dates and places, you can paste it in to make a Birdfolio, a hardcover of every species with the date and place it was first seen, their name on the cover and a dedication of your own.

Questions people ask

Should I wear white cotton gloves?

Not usually. The Library of Congress says clean hands matter whether you wear gloves or not, and that gloves make turning pages harder and you clumsier.

Can I use archival tape to fix a torn page?

The Library of Congress advises against self-stick tape even when it's sold as archival. For a valuable notebook, ask a conservator.

Is it safe to scan on my home scanner?

For a bound notebook, the National Archives suggests a copy stand instead of a flatbed scanner, and never an automatic-feed scanner. If you scan loose sheets on a flatbed, handle them gently and don't press down.