TOPIC THREE

PRESERVATION AND
CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
 CONTENTS
Principles of preservation
Importance of preservation management
Steps/procedures for establishment of
preservation and conservation management
program.
Problems/challenges of preservation and
conservation.
Principles of preservation
Preservation and conservation management
 Refers to all managerial, administrative ,
financial and financial efforts used for
preserving archival martials.
 Preservation planning or program is essential
to good records and archives management. It
is better to focus on preventive preservation
measures and ensure adequate environmental
and physical controls than to focus on
conservation treatments.
Principles of preservation
 When determining what preservation work to
undertake, the following core principles must be
respected.
 It is essential NOT to undertake any treatment that
I. cannot be reversed if necessary
II. cannot be done properly or according to instructions
III. will not last a sufficiently long time
IV. is harmful to people, either during the treatment itself
or from the residue left on
 Principles of preservation

 Focus on preventive rather than prescriptive

work.
 Establish a base line of care for all holdings,
not just a few precious items.
 Stress the critical problem diagnosis and
solution analysis to program effectiveness.
 specific problem or series of related problems,
not to create others.
Principles of preservation
 Ensure that storage methods and facilities do not
endanger the integrity or authenticity of
documentary materials.
 Document all treatments fully both before and
after work is done.
 Make sure all repairs or treatments are detectable
and reversible
 Ensure treatment does not changes the physical
characteristics of the materials treated.
Importance of preservation management

All staff should be trained to handle materials,

particularly records and archives properly.
Good preservation practice is required
throughout the institution.
Preservation management impact may be
evaluated and credited though the following
impact of management to records preservation
process
Importance of preservation management
 Ensure availability of storage facilities for
materials available
 Financial planning for preservation process
 Ensure security of the material
 Effective preservation process of the material
 Ensure key officials in the organization are
aware of preservation issues and understand
the priorities identified.
Procedures in establishment of
preservation program
The following should be adhered when
establishing preservation program
 Survey the building
 Survey storage conditions
 Survey maintenance procedures
 Survey the holdings themselves.
Survey the building

It is important to examine the physical

surroundings and the structure of the building
and storage locations within it. If problems or
dangers are identified, these should be
identified so that steps can be taken to correct
or minimize the problems and protect the
facility and its irreplaceable holdings.
Consider the following questions.
 Where does the water in gutters flow?
Survey the building
 Is the roof leaking or damaged? Repairs
should be made as soon as needed.
 What are the temperature and relative
humidity? Can they be controlled in any way,
or at least monitored regularly?
 Are there air leaks? Can they be blocked?
 Are the doors or windows warped or
damaged? Can they be repaired?
Survey storage conditions
 Are the shelves metal or wooden?
 Are they of adequate size and are there enough
to allow good storage of all records or archives
without crowding?
 Do record keepers use acid-free folders and
boxes?
 Do record keepers use plastic clips rather than
metal clips or staples?
 Are there sufficient quantities of all supplies?
Survey maintenance procedures

 Among the most important preservation tasks are

cleaning facilities and monitoring environmental
conditions. Cleaning helps keep dust from
accumulating and discourages insects or rodents from
entering the facility. Monitoring provides the
objective data needed when the archival institution
seeks to improve its facilities.
 Are all storage, reference and office areas cleaned and
dusted regularly and thoroughly and the dust removed
from the premises?
Survey maintenance procedures

 Are collections monitored regularly and

checked for physical changes?
 Are the temperature and relative humidity
checked regularly and the findings
documented on charts or logs?
 What type of monitoring equipment is used,
and is it adequate?
Survey the holdings themselves.

 The next step in developing a preservation program is

to conduct a conservation assessment of the records
or archives themselves.
 This survey will be more or less complex, depending
on whether the materials being evaluated are current
records, records in records centers or archives.
 One of the questions that must be considered is what
should be preserved. The establishment of standards
helps ensure the materials used to create records and
archives are of the best quality possible.
Procedures /steps for developing Preservation
program.
The following are steps to be undertaken when
developing PMP.
1. assessment; what to preserve and how!
2. Set Priorities;
basing on materials requiring preservation and
resources available (time, staff, facilities,
technology, etc.)
Procedures /steps for developing Preservation
program
3. Team development:
 A team should contain of certain number of members
with valuable contribution on records preservation.
 Representatives from the board of trustees or advisory
committee should also be included. A leader of the
team must be appointed, who will be responsible for
keeping the project on schedule. Other stakeholders
may also be included basing on their roles and titles.
E.g legal officers, accountants, etc.
 No of staff will depend on the size of the institution
Procedures /steps for developing Preservation
program

4. development and documentation.

A plan should be achievable and time-bound
for easy assessment and implementation.
A plan may include information like; Title
Page, Acknowledgements, Executive
Summary, Table of Contents, Introduction,
Description of Collections, Preservation Needs
and Required Actions, Listing of Preservation
Actions to Date
Procedures /steps for developing Preservation
program
5. approval:
For it to be legal and ready for
implementation, appropriate authority should
make a mark. Eg minister responsible on
records management, chief/ managing director
of the office responsible, etc.
Procedures /steps for developing Preservation
program
6. implementation.
7. Review:
Review nan be conducted annually/ after every
five years so as to make proper amendments
for improvements
Challenges facing preservation of archival
materials
a) Inadequate Finance: Almost all archives do
not allocate adequate funds in their annual
budget for the preservation and conservation
of information materials in their holdings.
This has really caused the low priority or lack
of desired attention given to it by
management.
Challenges facing preservation of archival
materials
b). Inadequacy of Equipment's: Lack of
suitable or inadequate equipment's and materials
contributes significantly to the present poor
status of preservation and conservation of
archival materials. Even these equipment's are
not available locally.
Challenges facing preservation of archival
materials
c) Unfavourable Government Economic Policies: The
economic policies of most African governments do not
favour archival services. Such economic policies
include those concerning high duties and tariffs
charged on imports of preservation and conservation
equipment.
d) Tropical climate: Excessive temperature, high
relative humidity, dust, and rodents that feed on paper-
based materials in tropical climate cause rapid
deterioration and decay of information resources in
African archives.
 Challenges facing preservation of archival
materials
e) Quality of paper and ink: The low quality of
paper and ink used in the production of paper-
based records pose serious danger to
preservation and conservation of information
materials in African countries.
f) Maintenance culture: African countries
generally lack maintenance culture.
Challenges facing preservation of archival
materials
g). Inadequate knowledge and skills of preserver
and conserver of the records and archives.
h), Cooperative preservation and conservation
venture: African countries lack cooperative
preservation and conservation venture either at
the regional or local level, etc.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
THE END OF TOPIC 3

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