n. (abbr. IPI)a laboratory devoted to researching the preservation of still and moving images and cultural property, and to providing related services to libraries, archives, and museumsWilhelm and Bower 1993, 546A landmark 1991 report entitled Preservation of Safety Film, by James M. Reilly, Peter A. Adelstein, and Douglas W. Nishimura, working at the Image Permanence Institute at the Rochester Institute of Technology, confirmed that relative humidity plays a determining role in the deterioration rates of cellulose nitrate, cellulose triacetate, and other cellulose ester films.Kraus 1994, 322Accelerated aging tests carried out at Image Permanence Institute (IPI) as part of a research project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), and Kodak indicate that the onset of rapid deterioration of acetate-base films stored under the recommended 21 C and 50% RH condition is only about 40 years.Ritzenthaler et al. 2006, 57, fn. 1For example, the Image Permanence Institute has conducted and published research on a range of photographic materials and topics, including storage conditions, unstable films, and the stability of digital prints.Heckman 2010, 489Furthermore, the image stability findings of the Image Permanence Institute strongly suggest that the life expectancy for most of the nitrate prints that have survived this long outstrips the life expectancy of any new acetate prints created.Cloonan 2013, 215In 1985, the photographic industry was struggling to reassure the public that its products were as stable as they claimed. After I collected $400,000 from all the major companies, IPI was formed as an independent testing laboratory under the joint auspices of RIT and the Society of Photographic Scientists and Engineers, now known as the Society for Imaging Science and Technology.Trinkaus-Randall 2014, 149, fn. 2The Image Permanence Institute is a nonprofit research laboratory focused on the development of sustainable practices for the preservation of cultural property, www.ImagePermanenceInstitute.org.
Notes
The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) was founded in 1985 by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology and, as of 2018, is part of RIT’s College of Art and Design.
