Dear Elaine, Thank you for your interest in the proper handling of artifacts. I am not certain of the photo to which you are referring, but I can think of only one picture of Dr. Harmelink handling an artifact. In that photo, he is holding up an old book and looking through a large hole in the cover. Smaller holes can be seen as well. The small holes are from book worms (they really do exist!) and the larger one was most likely a mouse nest at one time. When the book is closed, you can see the depth of the destruction to this book. It was donated to Concordia Historical Institute in this condition and is used as a teaching tool to illustrate the importance of archiving our history properly. CHI has over 10,000 square feet of temperature- and humidity-controlled environment in which we carefully preserve our synod's history. Regarding the use of white gloves, the world of archives is moving away from that policy. With gloves, you lose your sense of touch and can do more damage handling an object than without gloves. Thoroughly washing your hands before and after handling objects is preferred over gloves. Thank you again for your observation and we welcome you to join our history-loving family at CHI as we strive to move Lutheran history forward. Please see our website for membership information. concordiahistoricalinstitute.org.