n.a system of processes and technologies employed to protect archival materials from the adverse effects of temperature, humidity, air quality, light, and biological infestationMcLellan and Baker 1965, 582If all had gone as we hoped, we would have learned, with respect to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska: (a) the incidence of allergy cases among persons working with old records, (b) whether the allergy could be related to the work environment, and (c) whether environmental control or specific medical investigation might be indicated.Morrow 1979, 354One obvious shortcoming, however, is that the selections do not emphasize the importance of environmental control as the one area where administrators can have a decided and immediate impact on preservation.Fox 1985, 35Archivists can begin “doing preservation” as information and resources are available. While it will probably be impossible to adhere immediately or fully to preservation guidelines for environmental control and internal procedures, even apparently minor steps (such as reductions of temperature and light levels or improvement of housekeeping and shelving practices) will help extend the life of materials.Peters 1996Environmental control is a well established strategy in preventive conservation, and has become accepted as a management tool in collections maintenance programmes, yet for many institutions, the means of achieving the recommended values for environmental control are remote. The concept of archival storage under less-than-ideal conditions seems to question the very ethic of conservation, but the mechanical vagaries of full air-conditioning does not always provide a more stable environment. A new attitude to environmental control is required to achieve stable conditions for archival storage.Walters 1998, 168In fact, a large minority of archival repositories, 51 or 38%, do not use any recording hygrothermographs at all, which have become the de facto “standard” environmental monitoring equipment in use today. While the news is improving, it is still mixed on the environmental control and monitoring front.Hackbart-Dean and Montgomery 1998, 83–84Another benefit of a field survey is to determine a collection’s preservation and security requirements. It also helps establish project priorities and costs for physical transfer, conservation treatment of existing problems, arrangement and description, and long-term maintenance (such as, through environmental control).Clarke 2009, 190Preservation begins at the repository level not only in terms of policy but also in terms of physical storage, as the ability to provide proper environmental control is the most fundamental consideration of collection preservation.Pendergrass et al. 2019, 171These types of studies suggest that previous advice on environmental controls, such as tight ranges of allowable temperatures and relative humidity, are not necessary for many collections and spaces.one such process or technologyNorris 1985, 132Because photographs require special environmental controls, the archivist must anticipate the need for an adequate storage area when accepting extremely large collections.Yakel 1989, 207Second, the annual report noted that the environmental control unit had been malfunctioning and that it was difficult to maintain stable temperature and humidity in the vault, where the most precious records are kept.Keough and Schindler 2003, 124Individuals and private nonprofit organizations generally lack the space, staff, and environmental controls to offer satisfactory storage conditions for their inactive records.Nutt and Worrell 2015, 332The chief priority identified during the planning process was the need for a facility designed specifically for archival storage with effective environmental controls. Second, an ongoing system of environmental monitoring was developed. This program includes systematically measuring temperature and humidity levels and checking potential trouble areas for moisture and other problems.
