This presentation shows the different risks and solutions an archivist can do to maintain his archives. It can help both librarians and archivist in caring for their preserved materials.

2. Topic Outline
• Relationship among: PRESERVATION,
CONSERVATION, AND RESTORATION
• Archival Hazards
Temperature and Relative Humidity
Abuse and Mishandling
Acidity
Light
Pollution
Fire and Water

3. Biological Agents
• Developing a PRESERVATION PLAN
• Emergency Planning
• Storing Media Materials
Paper Records
Photographic Prints
Photographic Negatives, Slides &
Transparencies
Photograph Albums
Motion Picture Film

4. Cellulose Nitrate Film
Bound Volumes
Parchment, Vellum and Seals
Newspapers
Works of Art and Framed Materials
Audio and Video Recordings
Microforms
Artefacts

5. Protecting archives from harm and ensuring they are
available for use as long as possible are essential archival
responsibilities.

6. PRESERVATION
• Passive protection of archival material
• No physical or chemical treatment performed
CONSERVATION
• Active protection of archival material
• With physical and chemical treatment performed
RESTORATION
• Repairing of an item
• Either returning it to its original appearance or
improving its aesthetic qualities.

7. What are the risks to archival materials?
And what are the actions that can be
taken to assess or respond to those risks?

8. TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY

9. What are the risks?
Every increase in temperature of 5C
doubles the reaction rate of media.
High relative humidity promotes
growth of mould and causes archives
to absorb moisture and swell.
• Low relative humidity dries archival
materials, leaving them brittle.

10. What can be done?
• Ensuring good ventilation
throughout the building
• Storing materials away from
outside walls to encourage
air circulation
• Keeping records out of the
basements or attics

11. ABUSE AND MISHANDLING

12. What are the risks?
Putting excessive pressure on
bindings
Writing on
documents
Touching photographs
with bare fingers
Eating or drinking near archives
Tearing or folding pages
Handling documents with wet or dirty
hands

13. What can be done?
Storage areas
must be off
limits to the
public.
Researchers must not be allowed to
access unprocessed archives.

14. • Housekeeping is effective in
establishing a stable and secure
physical environment.
• All archival storage areas must be
inspected at least once a month (but
weekly if possible)

15. ACIDITY
The quality of being acid or ‘sour’

16. • Neutral – 7.0
• Increasing Alkalinity – above 7.0
• Increasing acidity – below 7.0

17. The scale is LOGARITHMIC!
pH of 5 = 10X more
acidic than pH of 6
pH of 4 = 100X more
acidic than pH of 6

18. What are the risks?
ACIDS can be
introduced into
paper during
MANUFACTURING.
WOOD PULP FIBRE
High level of acidic
chemicals lignin &
hemicelluloses
ACIDS can also be
present in the INKS used
on paper.
IRON GALL INK
Iron salt & tannin
– causing records
to deteriorate

20. What are the risks?
ACIDS can also
MIGRATE from
one substance
to another.
Acidic file folders,
staples, metal
fasteners, glue or
other acidic
documents with acidic
ink.

21. What can be done?
Testing the pH of
paper archives or
storage
containers
Mass
Deadicification Digitization
Usage of plastic
containers
(Mylar)
Encapsulation

22. LIGHT
•Light speeds up OXIDATION – causes rust
•Breaks down chemical bonds – causes ink to fade
Generates heat and radiation – increase deterioration

23. What are the risks?
Light speeds
up
OXIDATION
(causes rust)
Breaks down
chemical
bonds
(causes ink
to fade)
Generates
heat and
radiation
(increases
deterioration
)

24. What can be done?
a. Reducing overall
light levels (lux
units), removing UV
lighting
b. Store archival
materials in boxes or
containers to reduce
exposure to light
c. Use of blinders or
filters
d. Replacing
fluorescent with
incandescent lights
e. Refrain
photocopying and
Scanning

25. POLLUTION

26. What are the risks?
EXTERNAL
POLLUTANTS
Gases, chemicals &
toxins from factories,
automobiles or trucks.
INTERNAL
POLLUTANTS
Photocopiers, cleaning
supplies, paints,
untreated wood,
plastics, adhesives and
even tap water.

27. What can be done?
Install systems that filter out polluted air
particles
Untreated wood shelving can be sealed
with an interior latex paint
Regularly dusting and cleaning

28. FIRE AND WATER

29. What are the risks?
Fire is a devastating threat to archives, not
just because of the all-consuming losses
brought by the fire itself but also because of
the damage caused by the water or
chemicals used to extinguish the flames.

30. What can be done?
Archival materials should be kept at least
6-8inches off the floor.
Materials should not be stored in basements or
attics

31. What can be done?
No open flames or sources of heat – lighters,
cigarettes, portable heaters – should be allowed in
the facility.
Fire alarms and portable fire extinguishers should be
installed.

32. BIOLOGICAL AGENTS

33. What are the risks?
MOULD
• Prolific in environments with high temperature and humidity
INSECTS
• Silverfish, cockroaches, booklice and beetles
• They gravitate toward damp, dark corners
RODENTS
•Rats and mice
• Seek out warm, dark environment where
they use paper to build nests

34. What can be done?
1. Storing archives in climate-controlled
environments
2. Put traps and poison for
rodents
3. Drying and vacuuming off
the moulds
4. Archival materials can also
be fumigated or treated with
insecticides

36. Conduct a
preservation
assessment
Draft a
preservation
policy
Develop a
preservation
management
plan

37. Preservation Assessment
It creates a baseline
measurement of the status of the
archival facility and holdings; the
exterior and interior of the
building, the storage areas, the
care and handling of materials
and the condition of the archives
themselves.

38. Preservation Policy
It articulates the institution’s
goals and priorities for
preservation and
conservation. It is important
to develop the preservation
policy in keeping with the
goals and strategies
established in the
institution’s core archival
policy.

39. Preservation Management Plan
Here, priorities can be
identified and formalized. It
not only helps focus the
archives’ energies and
resources but can also help
convince the institution’s
sponsors that the archival
operation is moving ahead
in a deliberate and well-thought
out manner.

41. Emergencies
An emergency is defined as

45. Use of templates
You are free to use these templates for your personal
and business presentations.
We have put a lot of work into developing all these templates and retain the copyright
in them. They are not Open Source templates. You can use them freely providing
that you do not redistribute or sell them.
Do
 Use these templates for your
presentations
 Display your presentation on a web
site provided that it is not for the
purpose of downloading the template.
 If you like these templates, we would
always appreciate a link back to our
website. Many thanks.
Don’t
 Resell or distribute these templates
 Put these templates on a website for
download. This includes uploading
them onto file sharing networks like
Slideshare, Myspace, Facebook, bit
torrent etc
 Pass off any of our created content as
your own work
You can find many more free templates on the
Presentation Magazine website
www.presentationmagazine.com