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Collections Care

Information and simple steps for the good care, handling, and storage of collections (paper, books, photographs, audio-visual, etc.)

Environmental Factors

There are a variety of environmental circumstances that can cause damage to your collection. The best practice to prevent infestation, temperature damage, and light damage is to mitigate those circumstances with preventative procedures. Here we have listed a variety of sources on appropriate practices to control for those factors.

Temperature, Humidity, and Light Resources

Comparing Temperature and Relative Humidity Dataloggers for Museum Monitoring (National Park Service 2011) - An explanation of Datalogger hardware - a system for monitoring environmental conditions of your environment

Materials, Humidity, Light, Temperature (Access full text: Conservation Concerns: A Guide for Collectors & Curators 1992) - A chart dedicated to recommended conditions for conservation materials

Dew Point Calculator - Knowing the Dew Point is key to achieving long-term preservation of collection materials. This website lets you calculate the dew point of your environment

Pest Management

Planning and Implementing Pest Control (Smithsonian Institute 1997) - Tips how to plan a preventative strategy to pest control from the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute

Identifying Museum Insect Pest Damage (National Park Service 2008) - A quick guide to diagnosing pest damages  

Common Insect Pests of Museums in North America - Text available for purchase discussing common pests found in North American museums

Light Damaged Photograph

Light Damaged Photograph [Image]. Archival Methods. Retrieved from ArchivalMethods.com