Thinking About Long-Term Preservation

Anyone looking to preserve items for the future should ask themselves if they can provide the best environment, long term, for the records in their custody.

If not, it is worth considering depositing the collecting in an established archive service. An archive service will meet with you and discuss the procedures they follow to receive deposits of material.

They will be able to explain their storage facilities, how they preserve materials and how they make it available. There are a number of different agreements that can be arrived at between a depositor and an archives service.

Archives need to be stored in conditions which are cool and dry, with minimum exposure to light and where they are protected from pests and pollution. They also must be protected from unauthorised access. Material that requires specialist care such as sound recordings, photographs, textiles, artefacts, etc., will benefit from being deposited in an established archive service.

There are considerable costs involved in the provision of long-term material as well as the storage of digital objects. These long-term costs will need to be budgeted for in any funding application.