PRESERVATION

PROGRAMME

- Maintaining storage environment

- Temperatures and Relative
Humidity (RH)

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MAINTAINING THE PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT

 Key rules:
 Storage areas must be secured
 Archival materials must be removed only if
approved procedures are followed
 No smoking, eating, drinking in any area
where records are stored and used.
 Staff must follow all procedures

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MAINTAINING THE PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT

 Environmental requirements:
 Ensure air circulates well
 Make sure air conditioner is well maintain and kept
at consistent level
 Covers windows with curtain or blind
 Do not open windows/ doors unnecessarily
 Check roofs/all pipes regularly
 Check drainage and clean them regularly
 Effective fire-fighting equipment

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MAINTAINING THE PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT

 Storage of records and archives:

 Use archival quality enclosures
 Use appropriate sized storage material
 Separate highly acidic material away from other
archival materials
 Storage area must have aisles wide enough for
people to pass through
 Shelves must be non deteriorating
 Shelves should not be placed against outside walls

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MAINTAINING THE PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT

 Storage of records and archives:

 Shelves should be kept away from water pipes
 Storage room must be used to store archives only
 Archival and storage materials must be kept 15-25
cm from the floor
 Proper equipment should be provided

 Location registers and floor plans must be provided

appropriately at all times.

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TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY

 Temperature: The level of heat or cold in substance, body or

environment

 Relative Humidity: The ratio of the amount of water vapor in the

air to the amount that would be present at the same
temperature at the atmosphere.

 Higher temperature will deteriorate archival materials faster

 High RH accelerates chemical deterioration and mould growth.

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Temperature and Relative Humidity

 In rooms where the temperature and relative humidity greatly fluctuate

between day and night or from season to season, paper is put under
considerable strain.

 Why?
 Paper will absorb moisture at night when the temperature drops and
humidity rises and it will release moisture rises again.

 A climate with high humidity and high temperature is very dangerous as

mould will appear in such conditions.

 When the relative humidity is too low, paper becomes crisp.

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IDEALTEMPERATURE AND RH

 Temperature = 18-20°c (not above 20)

 RH = 35-40% (not above 50)
 Microfilm, microfiche, photograph, require lower
temperature and RH daily.
 Monitor temperature and RH daily
 Put reading into log book based on day/ month/
year, time of day, temperature, RH and outside
weather condition.

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CONTROLLING TEMPERATURE AND RH

 Good ventilation
 Store materials away from walls
 Do not store materials in basement
 Do not pack documents too tight into boxes, on
shelves, or in cabinet
 Air conditioners to be monitored properly
 Store fragile materials away from other records

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Temperature and Relative Humidity

 Possible solutions
 Install well-designed air conditioning system
 Heat and cool the air
 Humidify and dehumidify the air
 Clean pollution from the air
 Air conditioner should run 24 hours a day seven
days a week
 Humidifier / dehumidifier system. If can’t afford for
an air conditioning system.

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