Preservation (library and archive)

National Bureau of Standards preserving the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1951
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Archives management - Collections management (Preservation) - Data management - Information management (cataloguing) - Knowledge management - Library management
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Archival science - Communication studies - Computer science - Data science - Documentation science - Epistemology - Library science - Information science - Science and technology studies
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In conservation, library and archival science, preservation is a set of preventive conservation activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record, book, or object while making as few changes as possible. Preservation activities vary widely and may include monitoring the condition of items, maintaining the temperature and humidity in collection storage areas, writing a plan in case of emergencies, digitizing items, writing relevant metadata, and increasing accessibility. Preservation, in this definition, is practiced in a library or an archive by a conservator, librarian, archivist, or other professional when they perceive a collection or record is in need of maintenance.

Preservation should be distinguished from interventive conservation and restoration, which refers to the treatment and repair of individual items to slow the process of decay, or restore them to a usable state.[1] "Preventive conservation" is used interchangeably with "preservation".[2]

  1. ^ "conservation". A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Society of American Archivists.
  2. ^ "Preservation of Cultural Artifacts". wiki.spsu.edu. Southern Polytechnic State University. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-05-11.