[PADG:123] Re: storage facility environmental conditions

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All:

Susan is right about the difficulty of maintaining constant humidity levels in non purpose-built facilities. The reason is that the building "envelope" must be especially designed to prevent the loss (or gain) of moisture, as well as heat. Even a small leak can have great consequences. 

Jerry Shiner
Microclimate Technologies International
www.microclimate.ca

> 
> From: "Susan M Knoer" <susan.marie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 2004/07/24 Sat PM 12:55:26 EST
> To: <padg@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: [PADG:121] Re: storage facility environmental conditions
> 
> Whitney-
> 
>  We don't have offsite, but I did some research for a paper last year. NISO TRO1-1995 goes to 20-30%.   My notes are below, in rough form.
>   I know that 50 and 30 is what we're looking at for photographic negative storage, but that'lll be retrofitted for a small area.  Those are pretty standard figures for negatives.
>   Anecdotally, a lot seems to depend on whether it's new purpose-built storage, or retrofitted, which is much more difficult to maintain RH at a constant level.  That may be less of an issue in Kansas than it is here in Kentucky!
> 
>  1997  Georgia Department of Archives and History
> http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/georgia/offsite.html 
> 68-72º F,  between 40 and 45%.
> 
> U Texas Austin, modeled on Harvard
> http://www.lib.utexas.edu/exhibits/preserve/environ.html
>  constant 55° plus or minus 5°,       35% plus or minus 3%
> also: 1992 at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/abbey/an/an16/an16-7/an16-709.html
> 
> Rice SC 2002
> http://www.rice.edu/fondren/lsc/woodsonappendix.html
> 50ºF temperature with 30%
> 
> U Del 2003- not actually offsite, but closed stacks
> http://www2.lib.udel.edu/Preservation/units_acts_projs/units.htm
> 65 degrees F and 50%
> 
> IU BLoomington
> http://www.indiana.edu/~libcirc/alf/alf_faq.html#climate
> 50° Fahrenheit and 30%
> 
> Susan Knoer
> Special Collections Reference Archivist
> Ekstrom Library
> University of Louisville
> Louisville, KY 40292
> 502/852-6752  
> 502/852-8734 FAX
> susan.marie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>> wbaker@xxxxxx 07/23/04 4:47 PM >>>
> I have been asked to gather input from other research libraries that have off-site storage facilities for library materials.  What are the environmental guidelines currently in place in your facilities (where no humans normally work)?  The recommendations our facilities librarian has received from a colleague are to maintain the temperature at a constant 50 degrees and the RH at 30%.  He wonders if these are standard figures. 
> 
> Thanks for your response,
>  
> Whitney Baker
> Conservator, University of Kansas Libraries
> 1425 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 135
> Lawrence, KS  66045-7544
> (785) 864-3429; (785) 864-5311 (fax)
> wbaker@xxxxxx <mailto:wbaker@xxxxxx>
> www2.lib.ku.edu/preservation
>  
>  
> 
>