feb06c.indd


Jane Hedberg P r e s e r v a t i o n  N e w s  

Heritage Health Index 
Heritage Preservation and the Institute of 
Museum and Library Services (IMLS) have 
released the findings of their recent na­
tional survey in “A Public Trust at Risk: 
The Heritage Health Index Report on the 
State of America’s Collections.” This report 
compiles the survey responses from 3,370 
U.S. cultural institutions that collectively 
hold approximately 4.8 billion artifacts of 
all types. The findings indicate that stor­
age conditions pose the greatest threat to 
collections. Approximately 75 percent of 
the institutions surveyed have no environ­
mental controls in collection areas, and 
65 percent reported damage to collections 
because of improper storage. Approxi­
mately 80 percent reported they do not 
have an emergency plan or staff trained in 
emergency response. Heritage Preservation 
calculates that deficiency places more than 
2.6 billion objects at increased risk from 
catastrophic loss. Approximately 80 percent 
have no paid staff members for collections 
care, and 70 percent do not have an up­to­
date assessment of their collections’ con­
dition. In light of these fi ndings, Heritage 
Preservation is urging new efforts to fund 
preservation of our nation’s inheritance. 

The entire report is available free­of­
charge as a 1.2 MB PDF at www.heritage­
healthindex.org. For more information, 
contact Moira Egan at (202) 233­0800 or 
megan@heritagepreservation.org. 

Environmental workbook 
The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) has 
mounted “Step­by­Step Workbook: Achieving 
a Preservation Environment for Collections” 
on its Web site. This 59­page document is a 
result of IPI’s ongoing work in the develop­
ment of environmental monitoring equip­

Jane Hedberg is preservation program offi  cer at Harvard 
University Library, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; 
fax: (617) 496-8344 

ment and software, and training in their use. 
It covers the importance of environmental 
monitoring, the process of managing an 
environment that safeguards collections, 
the effect of environment on collections’ 
natural aging and rates of decay, the nature 
of buildings and HVAC systems, the evalu­
ation of storage environments, and actions 
that can be taken to improve collection 
environments. 

The workbook is available free­of­charge 
for printing or downloading at www. 
imagepermanenceinstitute.org/sub_pages 
/CNBworkbook.pdf. 

NARA conference 
“Beyond the Numbers: Specifying and 
Achieving an Efficient Preservation Environ­
ment,” the 20th Annual National Archives and 
Records Administration (NARA) Conference, 
will be held March 16, 2006, in Washington, 
D.C. This conference will examine how 
cultural institutions can, despite increasing 
construction and energy costs and decreas­
ing funds, effectively design and manage 
appropriate environments for preservation 
of collections. Speakers include Ernie Con­
rad of Landmark Facilities Group, Jim Reilly 
of the Image Permanence Institute, Richard 
Kershner of the Shelburne Museum, Peter 
Herzog of Herzog­Wheeler and Associates, 
Gail Joyce of the National Museum of the 
American Indian, and Doris Hamburg, Nancy 
Davis, Linda Blaser, Bryan McGraw, and Ann 
Seibert of NARA. 

The conference costs $85, with a re­
duced cost of $40 for full­time students. 
An online registration form is avail­
able at www.archives.gov/preservation 
/conferences/2006/ and, because space is 
limited, registration is recommended before 
March 1. For more information, contact 
Richard Schneider, Conference Coordinator, 
National Archives, NWT, Room B­815, Col­
lege Park, MD 20740; phone: (301) 837­3617; 
e­mail: richard_schneider@nara.gov. 

C&RL News February 2006  108 

mailto:richard_schneider@nara.gov
www.archives.gov/preservation
mailto:jane_hedberg@harvard.edu
mailto:megan@heritagepreservation.org
http:healthindex.org
www.heritage