Field Services

 

The Field Services program serves as the Preservation Division’s outreach center for Library staff and the public. Preservation staff collaborate with NYPL colleagues to provide safe and stable conditions for NYPL’s collections and to minimize damage that can be caused by disasters, pests, accidents, or other challenges. Field Services: designs and conducts collection needs assessments; manages the environmental monitoring program; coordinates the disaster preparedness and response program; facilitates integrated pest management; and provides training to the staff and public about good preservation practice to extend the life of Library and personal collections.  

 

 

Through a National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation and Access Research and Development grant, the Library and its research partner, the Image Permanence Institute (IPI), defined best practices for monitoring, evaluating, and optimizing storage conditions from an environmental management perspective. The project, entitled, Developing Data Models and Best Practices for Diagnosis and Improvement of Preservation Environments, began in January 2007 and concluded in December 2008. Information about results and the development of best practices, including a demonstration video, is available on a website about this project.