Manuscript curators acquire, organize, describe, and preserve the personal papers of individuals or the records of various organizations.

Manuscripts can be segmented into three categories 1. Bodies or groups of personal papers with organic unity-the archives of a person, family, or organization 2. Artificial collections of manuscripts acquired by private collectors from various sources, usually gathered according to a plan but without regard for their origin 3. Individual manuscripts acquired by an institution because of their special importance to research 4. Some interesting examples of manuscript categories include cartography, sound recordings, and still pictures To be hired as a manuscript curator, one needs an educational or professional background that will enable them to understand the collections for which they are responsible. You need an advanced degree in whatever field the manuscripts pertain to. Historical documents require a history degree, usually at least a masters while manuscripts of Edgar Allen Poe for example, require a degree in literature. Their main job is to acquire new manuscripts however possible. There are a wide variety of manuscript specialties. They can range from a specific emphasis in the time period that the manuscript was created, to the topic of it, or to the material that it is written on. Preservation: Free oxygen is a very volatile compound, in the form of O2 and can destroy fragile documents. Manuscript specialists are often in charge of this task. The Declaration of Independence would have eroded by now if it werent for their preservation techniques. Pump N2 into a vacuum. Works because N2 is a non metallic inert gas. CELLULOSE! H2o2=hydrogen peroxide Challenges include: 1. National Archives and Records Administration 2. Obtaining manuscripts and records from federal records can be monotonous and often unrewarding 3. Archaic documents may be hard to read often leading to educated guesses for indiscernible words Rewards Include: 1. Like the other professions, have the privilege to carefully hold documents that shaped the present into what it is today.