National history devoured by mould and bugs

NEW YORK—

Millions of rare artifacts in museums and libraries across the United States are slowly disintegrating because of improper storage, according to a survey said to be the largest ever look at the condition of such collections. Damage is occurring at institutions of all sizes but is worse at small- town museums and historical societies, said the report, to be made public today at the New York Public Library. The survey of conditions at 3,370 museums, libraries and archives found that many lacked the basic environmental controls that prevent photographs from losing colour, keep rare books from crumbling to dust and protect military uniforms from being devoured by insects.

Richard Landon, director and professor at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, says there has never been such a study conducted in Canada but that, given the nature of local historical societies across the country, “ It would probably reveal the same results.” A quarter of the archives in the study were deemed potentially vulnerable to damaging fluctuations in temperature, light and humidity. About 65 per cent had already sustained damage. One in five institutions had staff dedicated to caring for stored materials, and fewer than one in three had an uptodate assessment of the condition of their collections. Eighty per cent of the institutions lacked a plan detailing how their objects might be saved if a natural disaster occurred, the survey said.

“ There is an urgent need for a better environment for collections of all kinds,” said Debra Hess Norris, chairwoman of the conservation advocacy group Heritage Preservation and head of the art conservation department at the University of Delaware.

“ It’s hard to raise money for something as boring as storage, but it’s important, so we’ve got to do it,” said project director Kristen Overbeck Laise. The survey, performed by Heritage Preservation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, attempted to give the most detailed snapshot to date of the conditions under which an estimated 4.8 billion artifacts are stored at 30,000 institutions.

According to P. J. Carefoot, an archivist at the Thomas Fisher, “ the priority in Canada is in digitizing and microfilming. You’re not going to be able to preserve the artifacts, but at least you can preserve the contents.”