[PADG:766] News Release: heritage health index finds millions of precious artifacts at risk in u.s. collections

["Kristen Laise" <Klaise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

December 6, 2005

CONTACT:  Moira Egan
202-233-0800
megan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HERITAGE HEALTH INDEX FINDS MILLIONS OF PRECIOUS
 ARTIFACTS AT RISK IN U.S. COLLECTIONS

Report Identifies Urgent Need for Environmental Controls 

Washington, DC - The first comprehensive survey ever to assess the
condition of U.S. collections concludes that immediate action is needed
to prevent the loss of millions of irreplaceable artifacts held in
public trust.  Improper storage conditions and the lack of realistic
disaster planning top the list of chronic problems.

Heritage Preservation, the country's leading conservation advocate, in
partnership with  the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a
federal agency, details these and other findings in A Public Trust at
Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's
Collections. 

Key findings of the report include:

*	80% of U.S. collecting institutions do not have an emergency
plan to protect collections with staff trained to carry it out.
*	65% of collecting institutions have experienced damage to
collections due to improper storage.
*	190 million objects are in urgent need of conservation
treatment.
*	The most urgent need at U.S. collecting institutions is
environmental control.

"A Public Trust at Risk concludes that only very few collecting
institutions in the U.S. have enough funding to ensure the safety of
their collections. Heritage Preservation urges private donors and public
officials nationwide to lead new efforts to preserve the nation's
collected heritage, in light of this and other of the report's
findings," says Debra Hess Norris, Chairperson of Heritage Preservation
and Chair and Professor, Art Conservation Program, University of
Delaware/Winterthur.

The Heritage Health Index survey is unique in examining the state of
preservation across the entire spectrum of collecting institutions,
large and small, from internationally renowned art museums and research
libraries to local historical societies and specialized archives.

The report chronicles the preservation needs of 4.8  billion artifacts
held in U.S. collections, among them rare books, manuscripts,
photographs, prints, maps, films, videos, sound recordings, digital
materials, sculptures, paintings, drawings, textiles, flags, airplanes,
furniture, toys, shells, animal and plant specimens, fossils, and
prehistoric pottery shards.  

"I cannot think of an area of public life supported by as little
reliable data as that of our nation's collections-up until today," says
Lawrence L. Reger, President of Heritage Preservation.  "Now, with an
accurate picture resulting from the Heritage Health Index, leaders in
the private and public sectors can make better informed decisions about
issues of stewardship." 

The product of extensive planning and a year-long implementation
process, A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the
State of America's Collections was made possible by major support from
the IMLS and the Getty Foundation, with additional generous grants from
The Henry Luce Foundation, The Samuel H. Kress Foundation, The Bay and
Paul Foundations, The Peck Stacpoole Foundation, and The Gladys Krieble
Delmas Foundation. 

"Collections are the foundation of everything that takes place in
museums, libraries and archives," says Mary Chute, acting director of
the IMLS.  "They are vitally important, in part because objects take on
unanticipated and surprising meanings over time. For instance, a
botanical specimen we know little about today may yield clues to the
cure of a disease tomorrow."

ENVIRONMENT IS THE WORST ENEMY
The Heritage Health Index finds that the conditions in which objects are
stored often pose the chief threat to collections. Data shows that
collections in a quarter of American collecting institutions are
vulnerable to all three of the greatest threats to delicate
objects-fluctuations in temperature, light, and humidity-because these
institutions report having no environmental controls to protect
collections.

Sixty-five percent of the collecting institutions in the country
reported that parts of their collections have been damaged in the past
due to improper storage.  Nearly as many reported that they store a
large part of their collections in areas that are overcrowded and
therefore susceptible to damage. 

In A Public Trust at Risk, Heritage Preservation shows that millions of
historic documents, photographs, and other objects are kept in areas
where they are vulnerable to flooding, over-heating, light, and
infestation by insects. Many are crowded onto shelves, where condition
problems go undetected. Others are stored in acidic containers and,
thus, vulnerable to a slow decay brought about by leaching acids and
other chemicals.

Says Reger: "The Heritage Health Index was conducted during one of the
great waves of museum building and expansion in U.S. history.  Yet the
data shows that we still have a long way to go to provide safe
facilities for collections, not just in museums, but in libraries,
historical societies, and other collecting institutions.  As trustees,
government officials, and institutional leaders plan capital projects,
we urge them to ensure that the basic needs of collections are
addressed."

COLLECTIONS VULNERABLE TO SWIFT AND CATASTROPHIC LOSS
Emergencies are inevitable facts of life, from major disasters like
Hurricane Katrina to more quotidian occurrences like leaking water
pipes. Yet A Public Trust at Risk found that fully 80% of American
collecting institutions do not have an emergency plan with staff members
trained to carry it out. Extrapolating from that statistic, Heritage
Preservation estimates that more than 2.6 billion objects are at risk
from disaster striking their home institutions.

"The high percentage of museums, libraries, and other collections
without an emergency preparedness plan is one of the surprises of this
report, and a cause for alarm," says Reger.  "Every collecting
institution should have an emergency preparedness plan that includes its
collections, and staff should be trained to implement the plan.

"We know that in a disaster, after seeing to personal safety, shelter,
and food, people turn to the things in life that they care about
most-their family pictures, mementos, and prized possessions.  In a
similar way, public collections reflect the shared memories and
aspirations of the nation, and must be guarded," he concludes.

STAFFING AND FUNDING
The survey found that 80% of institutions nationwide have no paid staff
dedicated to collections care.  Without trained personnel, it is
difficult to address many of problems identified by the survey.

Many collecting institutions are not sure what is in their collections
or what condition they are in. 70% of organizations nationwide do not
have an up-to-date assessment of the condition of their collections.

"Staffing need not remain the problem it is today. Not every collection
requires a full-time professional conservator, but staff can be assigned
and trained to oversee the basics of caring for holdings," concludes
Chute.

Underlying the pervasive problem of staffing-and, indeed, all the
problems cited in the Heritage Health Index-is the report's finding that
only 40% of organizations in the U.S. regularly allocate funds for care
of their collections. This being the case, small problems can become
expensive ones, for a dollar spent on a safe environment is repaid
several times over by the money saved on conservation treatments.

"Care of collections need not be a drain on resources.  Conservation is
a subject that can engage the public, encourage participation in an
institution, and attract financial support," says Chute of the IMLS. The
Smithsonian American Art Museum discovered that its audience was curious
about conservation through a series of surveys and focus groups. Now,
when the museum reopens in Summer 2006, its Lunder Conservation Center
will offer visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how art is conserved.

Norris pointed out that while the survey's findings are alarming,
significant progress has been made in the past twenty years, due in part
to attention at the federal level and from several national foundations.
"Had this survey been conducted in 1984, the results would have shown an
even worse situation."

METHODOLOGY 
More than a hundred collections professionals helped to develop the
Heritage Health Index, which was completed by the staff members of 3,370
museums, archives, historical societies, libraries, and scientific
research organizations throughout the country. Responders ranged from
small, regional collections, like the Hooker County Library in Nebraska,
to the largest and most prestigious in the nation. These include the
Smithsonian Institution's museums and centers, all the units of the
National Archives and Records Administration (including presidential
libraries), the Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, the
American Museum of Natural History, the Harvard University Libraries and
Art Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum,
the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the University
of California, Berkeley Libraries, and major National Park Service
sites. The RMC Research Corporation of Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
collected and tabulated data and consulted with Heritage Preservation on
data analysis.

A Public at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of
America's Collections has been placed online in its entirety at
www.heritagehealthindex.org.

# # #
Heritage Preservation is a nonprofit organization based in Washington,
D.C., dedicated to preserving the nation's heritage. Since its founding
in 1973, its members have included libraries, museums, archives,
historic preservation organizations, historical societies, conservation
organizations, and other professional groups concerned with saving the
past for the future.  Heritage Preservation assists collecting
institutions on conservation issues and helps the general public care
for personal treasures by setting priorities and issues guidelines for
the field; publishing books; awarding grants; offering workshops;; and
holding forums on any number of issues, including emergency response.
Since its founding 32 years ago, the organization has issued a number of
influential reports.   www.heritagepreservation.org.


The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal
grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of
learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The
Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by
supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The
Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit
of libraries and museums.  Over the last two decades, IMLS has made
5,498 grants for conservation totaling $71,731,807 through their
Conservation Project Support grants and Conservation Assessment Program.
www.imls.gov.

The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic
institution devoted to the visual arts that includes the J. Paul Getty
Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute,
and the Getty Foundation. The Getty Trust and the Getty programs are
located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.  Additional information is
available on the Getty Web site at www.getty.edu.