Preservation Week Libguide

Preservation Week is April 27-May 3, 2025 and preservation is very important for the functioning of an archive. Of course, what is preservation? In archival terms, preservation is taking preventative measures to minimalize damage to historical documents and ensure that they are still available for as long as possible. OSUIT houses many historical documents from the 20th and 21st centuries and an archivist's goal is to ensure that said documents with enduring value are still available in the 22nd century and beyond. Preservation is not to be confused with the similar concept of archival conservation, which is the process of applying chemical treatments to heavily damaged documents in order to reverse the damage. Most archival conservationists are trained chemists and specialists and most people trained in the archival profession are not trained in conservation work, so they do whatever is possible to prevent an expensive bill from hiring an archival conservationist by following certain steps.

Okay, so now we have defined preservation, what are steps that archivists take to do preservation? Usually, the most obvious step in preservation is to handle historical documents in a way that minimizes damage and have a policy in place for patrons to follow on proper care and handling of archival documents. For example here is the University of Houston's guidelines for care and handling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TVIkBVSExI

In addition to care and handling, dealing with the environment is another method of preventing damage to materials. The ideal maximum temperature for archival materials is 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the ideal relative humidity range is 30-50%. Consulting with Physical Plant whenever it becomes difficult to maintain this environment is the ideal way to prevent the environment from destroying archival records. Minimizing light exposure is another method of preservation. Keeping lids on boxes not in use and keeping items in dark cabinets is another preservation measure as well as keeping lights off when the archive room is not in use. A light meter is a device that can be used to measure the intensity of lighting and is often used before exposing an item that is particular sensitive to any form of lighting. The final environmental threats to archival collection are insects and other pests. Checking for insect damage  and killing bugs when spotted is the ideal method. Laying bug traps in the archives is a good way to deal with them. Chemical pesticides are weapons of absolute last resort. And that is environmental controls in a nutshell.

Protective sleeves for photographs and book wraps for books are two other tools archivists used to protect items from damage (see first two images). Staples, paperclips, rubber bands, and other materials used to bind materials may not cause immediate damage, but over decades they leave a slimy and disgusting imprint on documents. That is why an archival staple remover (image 3) is an archivist's best friend as it allows for the removal of staples before this slime accumulates further.  

Even with all these measures, Father Time will eventually come and deterioration will happen over the decades and centuries. That is why it is important for archivists to create a digitized version of physical items in order to preserve a material's information. When scanning, balancing quality and file space is important. 300 DPI (dots per inch) is the absolute minimum for archival quality and 600 is usually the standard many institutions use. It is important to keep raw unedited copies to preserve how the material actually looked. Archives can and do use image editing software to improve the appearance for display on digital platforms, but the raws must not be discarded. 

In the 21st century, many items are born digital and digital preservation is an issue as well as physical. Creating backups is always an important step to ensure materials do not get deleted or corrupted without a method of recovery. "Bit rot" or digital item deterioration is another issue archivists need to deal with as digital data deteriorates over time the same way paper does. Having IT departments help with combatting bit rot is one way archives can deal with digital preservation issues as well as keeping an ideal environment for the physical hardware.

And that is the basics of the very broad topic of archival preservation. Preservation is a lot of hard work, but it is important.