Blue Prince's archives
(This contains mild spoilers for the early parts of Blue Prince.)
It will take time to find, it in the shifting floorplan of this puzzle-box mansion. But the archives room in Blue Prince is a great example of a private collection. Estate archives like these go back hundreds of years, and they're a way for noble families to write themselves into the longer story of the nation or polity around them, and a subtle flex; of course there are researchers just dying to learn more about your lineage, so you might as well have your own archives. Wealthy and historic families today will often have collections like this to keep family papers, correspondence, legal documents, and scrapbooks. (3-D objects like plaques and statues will inevitably find their way in, too, even though the archivist would rather they didn't.)
Historians and genealogists who want to see these records will ask nicely in a letter, maybe along with a recommendation from another archivist. And if they're lucky, they'll get invited up to the estate. —Where the archivist gets to decide which records they can and can't see. Contrast to government archives, where the presumption is that researchers have a right to view public records, and you have one of the big divides between public and private archives.
Third parties, like university collections, can be an in-between step. Here in the U.S., for example, the papers of the Hearst newspaper family are mostly held in the archives of the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. That imparts a different kind of legitimacy, with a hint of independence from the records' creators.
This collection, though, is firmly under the control of the Baron and his household, and we can see why: it has plenty of secrets to keep. (Good thing they have so many locking cabinets, huh?)
The shelving looks a little precarious, and I don't like the lighting, but at least everything is in a container. In old collections like this, there will be a never-ending project to re-folder and re-box files. A certain amount of re-description is bound to happen, while you're at it. New generations of researchers will have new questions, and the last archivist's catalog notes might not be up to the task.
I'm going to guess this desk is mainly for processing records. Everything that comes in has to be documented, checked for any special preservation needs, and then safely foldered, boxed, and stored. In this case, it looks like the archivist was doing reference work in this scrapbook.
That's fine for the archivist, you say, but where do researchers sit? I'm going to guess they use the library for that. It's a good place to stage records for research, and general reference works would be available there, too. Plus, it's impressive. The estate wants researchers to go away with positive feelings.
It also has better sight lines than the archives room, which is good. The archivist would know how to be nonchalant about it, but it is their job to keep an eye on records while researchers are working with them.
Is it time to talk about what's different between archives and libraries? A simple go-to answer is that archives preserve original documents, while libraries circulate copies. But of course, libraries don't lend out all of their holdings, and both institutions have existed longer than our modern concept of a "copy." So some cases do fall into very academic debate. But it's really a matter of their relationship to their holdings: archives exist to preserve records for the long term, with the assumption that they're the only authoritative source of those records.
Speaking of access: I promise, the archivist hates that there are four separate entrances to this room. It's not a train station! We need to control access, and we need to have a view of the room. Remember, archives are there to protect the records from you. Even if you are the baron. This layout makes the job harder.
This accordion file, though, is the hill to die on. If you receive files in a collapsible folder like this, your first job is to get them out of it. Collapsible files are meant to squish documents together under gravity to take up less space. That's the opposite of what you want for long-term preservation.
The strings around the folders here are probably small strips of cloth. Particularly for fragile documents, archives will often wrap a folder with cloth ties in both directions, then lay the folder flat in a box. I'm actually surpised we don't see more vertical file boxes in this room. Maybe the drawers in the cabinet are doing that job—they're wide enough, at least. But I'm not sold.
This ladder is a poor choice, too. An extension ladder puts pressure where you lean it, meaning it could damage boxes or records. If you need to fetch a box that takes two hands down from a high shelf, it's not a great tool for that job, either, since you're using your hands for stability.
That's more like it. Four legs on the floor and a sturdy place to stand while you're working with upper shelves. This design doesn't have casters or wheels, either, so you don't have to worry about it sliding out from under you.
My biggest problem with this room, though, is this big steam pipe running along the ceiling. Steam! A great way to make something warm and damp! And let's put it on the ceiling, just to maximize the risk of leaks! The architect should have known better, and the archivist should have flagged it, too. This room should be climate-controlled for the records: Cool, dry, and stable.
Q: What's with this binder?
A: This is a plausible design! Archival books like this need to do a few things: They need be able to hold records securely. They need to open and close without damaging the documents, so you can take pages out or add new ones. Ideally, they'll also lie flat when they're open, so as not to bend pages. The two-ring design is unusual, but not unheard of. You'll find lots of subtly different designs for this sort of clasp as you look through old books. That metal tab probably twists or pulls to unlock the rings.
Keeping newspaper clippings is a challenge, because newsprint isn't necessarily meant to last. Putting them in a protector like this can extend their life, but only so much. Scanning papers to microfilm was a popular solution for a few decades, but it took bulky, specialized equipment to view them. Today, it's more common to make digital scans for long-term preservation.
With a little grace for artistic license, I'm positive on this room. The designers clearly did some research, and the result drives home the idea that while the manor is full of secrets, plenty of them are lying in plan sight. And hey—do you love piecing together evidence on tantalizing puzzles? Great news: the world is full of estate collections like this one, full mysteries just waiting to be solved.