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Preservation Surveys
Preservation Needs Assessment Surveys
In order to care for your collections with a limited budget and
limited resources, it is important that preservation decisions are made on a
known and rational basis.
Introduction
The preservation needs of your collections, or identified parts of
them, have to be considered in line with your organisation's purpose,
collecting policies and available resources. You also need to consider the
social and political climate in which you operate.
Since resources for preservation will almost never be equal to the
amount needed for the total care of your collection, it is important that you
consider priorities in preservation decision making, and be aware of
alternative pathways to achieve your goals.
Before a completely satisfactory preservation plan can be put in place
for any collection, a preservation needs assessment survey should be
undertaken. For community groups, this will almost always involve calling ain a
consultant to help you with the technical details. A survey will clarify your
ideas on:
- the relationship of your collections to the overall organisation or
institution that you represent
- the purpose of your collections - what is collected, why is it
collected, what is the authority for its collecting
- the scope of your collection - how big is it, how fast is it
growing, what types of material does it contain
- how it is used - who are the users, how you control and monitor the
use it gets
- the present condition of the collection
- both the good and the bad aspects of how it is currently housed and
cared for
- what risks the collections face
- what improvements can be made in the preservation of the
collections
The first four of these points can be considered as background
information - what you need to establish before you call for a consultant's
help. Preferably, your answers to them should form part of your brief to the
consultants. If you find it too difficult to answer some of them, a good
consultant should be able to guide you through your responses.
The last four points will need to be discussed with the consultants.
No consultant can work in isolation from the client. You will need to put some
time into working with the consultant to ensure that the final report is both
correct, comprehensive and applicable to your specific collections. This
document covers some of the information gathering steps that go to make up a
preservation needs assessment - looking at their purpose and expected outcomes.
Background Information
Responses to the following should be considered and prepared before
you engage a consultant.
To provide answers to the questions that follow, you will need to look
at written reports or files and policies and procedure manuals if they exist.
The most likely source of information, however, will be verbal - interviews,
observations, surveys. The result of the information gathering phase sets the
context for the preservation needs survey itself.
Statement of purpose, organisational setting
- What is your organisation's purpose - its goals and objectives
- What documentary or other evidence influence or affect the
operation of the organisation with respect to its collections
- What is the availability of resources - likely budget for
collecting, preservation, housing, staffing
- What organisational or external pressures are there - financial,
manpower, service, trends in collection development etc
- What is this assessment for, and who is its audience
- What is its authority
Scope of the collections
- What subjects are collected
- Why are they collected
- What are the major components of the collections
- What formats of material do they contain (See Collections
Description Form for one way of describing your collections)
- How big are your collections
- How have your collections developed over time - what is 'important'
and why
- What is their importance to your organisation - how do they relate
to the organisation's goals and objectives
- How fast are your collections growing
- What future directions do you see your collecting taking
- What is the main value of the collections - eg genealogical,
information resource, monetary value, historical or political, scientific,
religious or symbolic
- Are your collections under bibliographic control.
- If 'yes' what system do you use and is a copy of your catalogue
kept safe in off site storage
- Are your collection items identified as belonging to your
organisation
- If 'yes' what method do you use (stamp, embossing, written label)
Use of the collections
- Are your collections available for use
- If 'yes', who can use your collections
- How is the collection accessed by staff and researchers
- Are users allowed open access to the collection
- What responsibilities do they have to properly care for the
collections
- What personal materials may be taken into the reading/research room
- Are users monitored at all times
- Are there rules to be followed by users
- If 'yes' are these known and understood
Collections and Housing Survey
The following questions are some that should be considered for
inclusion when you commission a preservation needs assessment survey of your
collections.
They are intended to serve as a guide only. Since it is a list of very
general questions, not all might be relevant for your own institution. You
should discuss with the consultant what questions can be omitted and whether
there are other additional questions that should be asked to cover the specific
needs of your collection. Some of the questions you will be able to answer
without using a consultant. The consultant will be important, however, to
interpret some of your answers to these questions and to some of those in the
preceding section, and to draw all the responses together into a final report.
This survey is intended to gather information which will enable you to
better plan your collection preservation strategies. It consists of a series of
sections, each of which relates to some aspects of your organisation's
collections and their housing and storage. Each section contains a set of
questions and/or key words or phrases to help you answer those questions.
The organisation and its staffing
This section gives the basic details of your organisation - always
remember to include this information.
- Name of organisation
- Address
- Telephone/fax/email
- Director of organisation
- Contact officer
- Number of staff
- Number of volunteers
- Date of survey
- Name of officer undertaking survey
Location
This section gives a word picture of the location where your
collections are housed. It attempts to describe and identify external
environmental threats that might cause problems for your collections.
- Describe the district where the collections are housed
(residential, industrial/commercial, shopping centre, rural, recreational)
- Are there any major industrial or natural hazards very close to
where the collections are housed (airport, railroad/motorway, natural water
ways such as the ocean, lakes, rivers, natural vegetation or bushland, other
buildings)
- What is the immediate surroundings or perimeter to the building
(fences and gates, natural barriers such as rivers, lakes, ocean front etc,
dark corners, overhangs, areas providing cover)
- Are the surroundings secure
(regular patrols, effective
lighting, gates secured and access controlled, separate access for staff and
visitors/users)
- Is pollution from factories, traffic or the environment a
problem
(dust, gaseous pollutants)
The Building
This section attempts to describe the building/buildings which house
your collections. A sketch may be helpful to explain your answers .If your
collections are housed in more than one building, you will need to describe
each separately If the buildings are spread over more than 1 site, the previous
section 'Location' should also be repeated for each site.
- How many buildings are the collections housed in
- Describe the construction of each building
(age, type of
construction, type of materials used, type of roof, type of windows, screening
to doors and windows, locks and/or bars on windows , skylights, floor
construction, other features)
- Describe the condition of building, including walls and the
roof
(excellent, good, poor, fair, needs maintenance)
- How big is the building (approximately only)
(total amount of
floor space, number of floors at ground level and above, number of floors below
ground level)
- Where are the collections housed within the building
(which
floors, rooms etc)
- Does the location or architectural design of the building create
unusual problems in protection of the collections
- Does your organisation occupy the whole building
(if not, who
are the other tenants, what parts do they occupy, what do they use the building
for)
- Are there other buildings on the same site, and if so what is their
purpose
(belonging to your institution, belonging to other organisations)
- How many entrances to the building are there
(for staff,
visitors, others)
- What are the approximate number of visitors to the building
(per annum, at any one time or session)
- What are the approximate number of visitors to the area housing
your collection
(per annum, at any one time or session)
Building utilities and site maintenance
This section asks questions about the building utilities - air
conditioning, lighting etc, and maintenance programs for the building and its
surroundings. Maintenance serves two very important functions - firstly it
makes certain that the fabric and environment are maintained in good order, and
secondly it ensures that regular inspections are made of them.
Cleanliness and housekeeping
- Are checks made on the cleanliness and condition of the outdoor
areas of the building. If 'yes' how often
- Are checks made on the cleanliness and condition of the inside
rooms of the building. If 'yes' how often
How often are collection areas
cleaned, and by what method
(daily/ weekly/ annual/other; dusting of
collections, sweeping of floors, mopping/washing of floors, vacuuming of
floors, wiping of shelves, other)
- Are checks made to detect insect and animal infestation.
- If 'yes' for what pests, how often, and what sort of checks
(cockroaches, carpet beetles, termites, ants, rats, mice etc - regular
inspections, sticky traps)
- Do you employ any methods of pest control
- If yes, what methods
(knock down sprays, residual chemicals,
physical barriers, windows screened)
- Are collections stored at a safe distance from plumbing, electrical
and mechanical installations - water pipes, radiators, air conditioning,
kitchens, transformer or switch rooms
- Is the area where collections are stored susceptible to leaks or
flooding
Air conditioning and environmental control
- Is air conditioning installed in the building
- If 'yes', what sort of system is it
- What areas of the building are covered by the system
- If you have no air conditioning system OR, for areas not covered by
your system, how are rooms heated and/or cooled
- If you have no air conditioning system OR, for areas not covered by
your system , how is humidity controlled
- Does the air conditioning provide constant climate control
throughout the year
- Is the air conditioning system kept at a constant level 24 hours a
day
- What settings of temperature and humidity does the air conditioning
operate at
- Is the air conditioning turned down or shut off at any time
- What sort of air filtration system is used
- Are monitoring devices for temperature and relative humidity used
in the facility
- If 'yes' are they used on a regular basis?
- What conditions of temperature and relative humidity are maintained
Lighting and light exposure
- What exposure do the collections get to natural daylight
- Have any steps have been taken to reduce the amount of natural
light entering the areas where collections are housed?(blinds, louvres, shades)
- What exposure do the collections get to artificial light
(tungsten lighting, fluorescent lighting)
- What steps have been taken to reduce the amount of ultra violet
(UV) light entering or given off by lights in the areas where collections are
housed?
- (UV filtering films, UV filtering to lights)
- Have any steps have been taken to reduce the exposure of the
collections to artificial light
- What is the daily length of exposure to of the collections to
light
(working hours, on demand)
Disaster preparedness and response
Collections can be put at risk by a range of incidents or emergencies.
Risk management strategies are important to minimise the effects of these
incidents. The term 'disaster response planning' is one way of describing
activities which will help recovery operations. The questions asked here are
intended to alert you to some of the factors that need considering.
General preparedness
- Have any major incidents or disasters occurred in the past 5
years
(bomb threats and bombing, civil disturbances, riots, wars, natural
disasters - flood, earthquake, fire, dust storm)
- What is the likelihood of any major incidents or disasters
happening
(bomb threats and bombing, civil disturbances, riots, wars,
natural disasters - flood, earthquake, fire, dust storm)
- Do written plans exist for response to any major incident or
disaster
(bomb threats and bombing, civil disturbances, riots, wars,
natural disaster - flood, earthquake, fire, dust storm)
- Are the staff trained in emergency response procedures
(delegated officer in charge, regular training, emergency evacuations)
- Has a disaster preparedness and response plan been prepared for
your facility
- If 'yes' when was it last updated and what elements does it
contain
(description of emergency procedures, disaster response outline,
emergency supplies list, recovery priorities, conservation experts,, supplies
stored off-site, list of staff volunteers, other)
Fire preparedness
- How safe is the building from fire
(location/surrounding is
fire prone, building materials - fire resistant?, fire resistant walls
separating parts of the building, fire resistant doors)
- Has the building a smoke or fire detection system
- If 'yes' what sort
- Is there an automatic fire extinguishing system in the area
- If 'yes' what sort
- Are there manual fire fighting systems in the area
- If 'yes' how many and what sort
(extinguishers, fire hoses etc
- how many, what type)
- Are the fire detection and/or extinguishing systems inspected
regularly
- Is smoking allowed in any areas
- Does the building have lightning conductors
- Are large amounts of flammable materials stored on site
- Are special precautions taken when potentially dangerous activities
are undertaken
Building and collection security
- Do written plans exist for breaches of building or collection
security
(equipment or installation failure, vandalism, robbery, assault,
accidents to staff and visitors)
- Have any major breaches of building or collection security occurred
in the past 5 years
- Are precautions taken to guard against theft of collection items
- If 'yes' what precautions are taken
- Do you have a security system installed
- If 'yes' what type , and who monitors it
General care of the collections
Simple preventive preservation measures will go a long way to keep
your collections in good condition. The following questions address some of the
issues which will enable you to care for your collections in an appropriate and
safe way.
Use of the collections
- Are staff and users trained in the care of the collections
(safe handling of the printed collections, safe handling of special material
collections, basic preservation procedures, emergency procedures)
- If 'yes' what training is given
- Is photocopying permitted for all printed materials, art works and
photographic prints
- If 'no' what restrictions apply
- Are members or staff trained to remove materials from storage
- Is access restricted to any parts of the collection
- If 'yes' who has access
Storage and housing
- Where are your collections housed
(separate storage area,
office area, exhibition area, reading room, other)
- What part of the building are these located in
(below ground,
ground level, above ground)
- What sort of storage system is used
(open shelves, compactus
shelving, closed shelves in book case or cupboard, filing cabinets, map cases,
stacked on floor, other)
- What type of material is used for the storage system
(unpainted
wood, painted or varnished wood, painted metal, unpainted metal, other)
- What storage materials are used for your collections, for what
format of materials
(non archival boxes, archival boxes, manilla folders,
plastic folders, archival folders, encapsulation, mounting, framing, other)
- How are oversized materials housed and shelved
- Are collections overcrowded in storage
- Is there more secure or special storage provided for any parts of
the collection.
- If yes, for what kinds of material and what sort of storage
Environmental conditions
- What environmental conditions are your general collections stored
in
(air conditioning - 24 hour, air conditioning - intermittent, ceiling
fans, other temperature or relative humidity control, what range of temperature
and relative humidity apply in the area, is there any air filtration)
- Are any collections given special environmental conditions for
storage(air conditioning - 24 hour, air conditioning - intermittent, ceiling
fans, other temperature or relative humidity control, what range of temperature
and relative humidity apply in the area, is there any air filtration)
- Is mould a problem in the areas housing collections
- If 'yes' what steps are taken to control it?
Preservation issues
- Is there any one on staff with responsibility for preservation of
the collections
(commissioning conservation treatments, commissioning
preservation surveys, duplication and microfilming)
- Is there someone on staff or a member of the organisation with
preservation skills
- Are any simple conservation procedures undertaken
(surface
cleaning, removal of tape, mending, reinforcement, encapsulation,
boxing/foldering, binding, binding repair, other)
- Have you identified and/or used any persons or organisations with
specialised preservation skills in your local area
- Has a survey of the condition of the building been done
- If 'yes', when and by whom and what were the findings
- Has a survey of the condition of the collections been done
- If 'yes' by whom and what were findings
- Have other members and staff of the organisation received any
preservation/conservation training from that or another person
- Have members or staff attended education programs on
preservation/conservation issues
- If 'yes' what were the major topics covered
- Does the organisation have a preservation plan
- Have preservation priorities for your collections been established.
- If 'yes', on what basis
Condition of the collections
A preservation needs assessment obviously has to take into account
the current condition of the collection and identify potential problems. At
this stage, however, only very general comments are likely to be possible,
since a complete analysis would require a full condition survey of the
collections.
- What is the overall condition of the collections
- What collections are in poor condition
- What collections are at most risk
Final Report
It is expected that a final report on your organisation's preservation
needs assessment will take into account answers to the foregoing questions.
Not all will necessarily be relevant to your own institution, but they
also to alert you to some of the considerations that are important in planning
the general care of your collections.
Collections Description Form
- Describe the type, age range and amount of your holdings by filling
in the following table.
- Amount will probably be given either as approximate number of items
(eg 300 photographs, 2000 books), as 'shelf metres' (eg 10 shelf metres of
manuscript boxes) or some other measure of amount. For each material type state
what unit you are measuring it in.
- Try and indicate a date range for your collections. It may be
possible to split up holdings into different date ranges - for example 10,000
books pre 1850; 20 000 books 1850-1900; 500 000 books 1900-present
| Books and
papers |
Quantity (give
units) |
Age range |
| handwritten documents |
|
|
| typed or photocopied
documents |
|
|
| printed books
(monographs) |
|
|
| posters, printed single
sheets |
|
|
| serials (journals,
periodicals) |
|
|
| newspapers |
|
|
| Pictures, maps,
plans |
Quantity (give
units) |
Age range |
| watercolours |
|
|
| drawings |
|
|
| prints |
|
|
| architectural
drawings/originals |
|
|
| architectural
drawings/tracings |
|
|
| blueprints, other
reproductions |
|
|
| maps and charts |
|
|
| paintings |
|
|
| Photographs and
microfilm |
Quantity (give
units) |
Age range |
| photographs (black and
white) |
|
|
| photographs (colour) |
|
|
| colour slides |
|
|
| black & white
negatives |
|
|
| colour negatives |
|
|
| motion picture film |
|
|
| microfilm/reels |
|
|
| microfilm/microfiche |
|
|
| microfilm/preservation
masters |
|
|
| Music and sound
recordings |
Quantity (give
units) |
Age range |
| records (LP's, 45's,
78's) |
|
|
| cassette tapes |
|
|
| reel to reel tapes |
|
|
| wax cylinders |
|
|
| compact discs (CD) |
|
|
| video tapes |
|
|
| electronic media/computer
tapes |
|
|
| electronic
media/CD-ROM |
|
|
Other materials
- please list them |
Quantity (give
units) |
Age range |
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