Magna Carta Conservation at NARA

As someone who worked at NARA, where most documents are handled with clean, dry, bare hands, I've never understood the vehemence with which some people insist on gloves for the handling of old documents. I've done it at jobs where it was the institution's standard practice, but not without voicing my objections. My understanding is that it provides increased risk with little to no added benefit over bare hands. (Photographs, of course, are a completely different story!)