Dataloggers

A few more comments on dataloggers.

At the Smithsonian Libraries we have many different locations in the
Washington DC area, as well as New York that we monitor for
temperature and relative humidity and the preservation department is
located a few miles from the cluster of museums and libraries on the
Mall.

After investigating a number of options, we have found that
dataloggers which are connected to our Smithsonian-wide computer
network, work best for us.  We are currently using the Newport
iTHX-m monitors, which can be purchased from Omega.com for $295
each.  Each monitor is plugged in to a LAN drop and a standard AC
electrical outlet.  The monitors have a digital read-out for on-site
spot checking, but can also be monitored from any computer on the
Smithsonian's intranet.  The web site for each monitor can show you
the current conditions (temperature, humidity and dewpoint), or a
graph of the most recent minute, day, week, month or year.  This
arrangement is working really well in the National Museum of
American History, where renovations are on-going and we had to leave
certain collections in place.  Any Smithsonian staff member can
check the conditions in a given collections storage area, even if we
can't actually get in to the space due to the configuration of the
construction zone.

The raw data from the Newport monitors can also be uploaded to the
Climate Notebook software fairly easily, and we do that on a weekly
basis for archiving purposes or in case the Temperature/RH
information needs to be included in a more polished report.

Eliza Gilligan
Book Conservator, Department Head
Preservation Services Department
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
SISC 2H7 MRC 806
PO Box 37012
Washington DC 20013-7012
202-633-4713
Fax: 202-357-1775


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:42
                Distributed: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-42-001
                                  ***