Preservation and Conservation

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Methods for preserving and conserving archival materials, including environmental controls, storage, handling, and remediation methods.

History of Archives and Preservation: A review of the development of archives and preservation, including the evolution of practices and codes of ethics.
Principles of Conservation: Fundamental concepts of conservation, including preventive strategies, condition assessment, treatment methodology, and use of scientific tools.
Paper Conservation: Materials composition, physical properties, degradation mechanisms and treatments for paper artifacts.
Photograph and Film Preservation: Different types of photographic media, their support materials, and the effects of age and environmental factors.
Preservation Planning: Developing long-term strategies to prevent damage and ensure the accessibility of collections.
Environmental Control: Monitoring and controlling environmental conditions that affect collections.
Disaster Preparedness: Developing and implementing disaster plans and recovery procedures to protect collections against natural or man-made disasters.
Digital Preservation: Ensuring that digital information remains accessible, usable, and reliable for as long as required.
Conservation Ethics: Considering ethical considerations and moral obligations that arise in conservation and preservation.
Exhibition and Display: How conservation and preservation integrate with exhibition planning and the display of cultural heritage objects.
Intellectual Property and Copyright: Understanding rights, ownership, and management issues for cultural heritage objects and their reproduction.
Collection and Storage Management: How best practices and organization support the preservation and accessibility of archives and collections.
Audiovisual Preservation: Determine the physical characteristics of audiovisual materials, preservation standards, storage conditions, and the essential elements of a film/audiovisual preservation plan.
Conservation Science: The use and principles of scientific tools and methods for conservation and preservation work.
Disaster Response: Strategies to respond to catastrophes that can affect cultural heritage materials.
Preventative Preservation: This type of preservation involves actions taken to prevent damage or deterioration from occurring in the first place. Examples of preventative actions include controlling temperature and humidity levels, using proper storage materials, and implementing security measures.
Conservation Treatment: This type of preservation involves physical interventions to restore or repair damaged or deteriorated items. Examples of conservation treatment can include cleaning, repairing tears or breaks, and stabilizing fragile materials.
Digital Preservation: This type of preservation involves the long-term storage and management of digital materials to ensure their access and usability over time. Digital preservation may involve migrating digital files to new file formats, ensuring data integrity, and providing access to digital materials through web-based systems.
Disaster Preparedness and Response: This type of preservation involves planning for and responding to natural or man-made disasters that can damage or destroy valuable collections. Disaster preparedness and response plans can include evacuation plans and emergency response procedures.
Environmental Monitoring: This type of preservation involves regularly monitoring environmental conditions to ensure that they remain within acceptable ranges. Environmental monitoring can include measuring temperature and humidity levels, as well as detecting pollutants or other harmful substances.
Collection Assessment and Management: This type of preservation involves evaluating and managing the physical and intellectual characteristics of a collection to ensure that it meets the needs of its users. Collection assessment and management can include developing policies for acquisition and disposal, cataloging and indexing materials, and providing access to the collection.
Legal and Ethical Issues: This type of preservation involves identifying and addressing legal and ethical issues related to the ownership and use of archival materials. Legal and ethical issues can include copyright and privacy concerns, as well as issues related to cultural sensitivity.
Outreach and Education: This type of preservation involves educating the public about the importance of preservation and conservation, as well as providing resources and training for individuals and organizations involved in the management and care of archival materials. Outreach and education can include workshops, training sessions, and online resources.
- "Archival science, or archival studies, is the study and theory of building and curating archives, which are collections of documents, recordings and data storage devices."
- "To build and curate an archive, one must acquire and evaluate recorded materials, and be able to access them later." - "Archival science seeks to improve methods for appraising, storing, preserving, and cataloging recorded materials."
- "In order to be of value to society, archives must be trustworthy." - "An archivist has a responsibility to authenticate archival materials, such as historical documents, and to ensure their reliability, integrity, and usability."
- "Archival records must be what they claim to be; accurately represent the activity they were created for; present a coherent picture through an array of content; and be in usable condition in an accessible location."
- "An archive curator is called an archivist." - "An archivist has a responsibility to authenticate archival materials, such as historical documents, and to ensure their reliability, integrity, and usability."
- "To build and curate an archive, one must acquire and evaluate recorded materials, and be able to access them later."
- "Archival science seeks to improve methods for appraising, storing, preserving, and cataloging recorded materials."
- "Archival records must be in usable condition in an accessible location."
- "An archivist has a responsibility to authenticate archival materials, such as historical documents, and to ensure their reliability, integrity, and usability."
- "Archival records must accurately represent the activity they were created for."
- "Archival records must be what they claim to be; present a coherent picture through an array of content; and be in usable condition in an accessible location."
- "The curation of an archive is called archive administration."
- "Archives are collections of documents, recordings, and data storage devices."
- "Archival science seeks to improve methods for appraising, storing, preserving, and cataloging recorded materials."
- "Archival records must be in usable condition in an accessible location."
- "In order to be of value to society, archives must be trustworthy."
- "An archivist has a responsibility to authenticate archival materials and ensure their reliability, integrity, and usability."
- "The curation of an archive is called archive administration."
- "Archival science seeks to improve methods for cataloging recorded materials."
- "An archivist has a responsibility to acquire and evaluate recorded materials."