Preservation Management for Libraries, Archives and Museums

Preservation management is a top priority for heritage institutions worldwide. In recent times conflicts and natural disasters around the world have highlighted the importance for heritage institutions to have an effective preservation management policy. However, preservation management is a complex field, and with the many emerging opportunities afforded by new digital technologies designing an effective preservation management policy is not a simple matter.

This concise but informative book provides an enlightening background to the topic of preservation management, covers a wide range of issues, and provides practical guidance to assist with the development of an effective policy for a range of heritage institutions. Leading experts in their fields, including academics, practitioners and consultants, provide a coherent and thorough account of a range of topics, including discussion of the key issues and practical advice. Chapters in the book address the preservation of a diverse range of materials, including photographs, audiovisual media, text, digital media, and intangible and cultural heritage.

While preservation management is, of course, about preserving existing materials and information, this book looks towards the future and not the past when it comes to designing an effective preservation management policy. It considers modern‐day issues such as redefining “the collection” in the twenty‐first century, and ensuring that current methods of providing access to materials do not preclude the long‐term preservation of the material. There is also some worthwhile discussion about the implications and possibilities of using techniques such as the reformatting of materials and digital surrogates to assist the preservation of a range of media.

Preservation Management for Libraries, Archives and Museums is highly recommended for any institution that has preservation as one of its objectives, including academic, public and research libraries, archives and museums. In particular, this book will be a valuable tool for librarians, archivists and curators in developing their institution's own preservation management policy. It will also be a useful resource for information science students, who need to be aware of the important issues it covers.