What is...Preservation?
Preservation is maintaining an item in its current condition and protecting it from future harm. Examples of preservation in archives include putting documents in acid-free folders inside of acid-free boxes, partially encapsulating documents in mylar, and providing access copies of records.
Boxes and folders are important because the acid-free containers prevent damage to paper contents. Folders keep papers and photographs from bending and folding. Storing documents in folders means that fewer documents need to be leafed through at a time, preventing potential harm to them. Additionally, numbering folders makes it easier for records to retain their original order, which can offer insight into the records.
Boxes reinforce flat records as well as offering protection from dust, fire, water, and other external forces.
Mylar sleeves provide additional reinforcement for fragile records that could easily bend. They can also help unite pieces of paper that have separated over time – this is especially common with paper that has become brittle and has been folded a certain way for many years. Mylar sleeves can also help prevent tiny documents from getting lost by making them take up a little more space in their folders.
When using mylar sleeves the rule is partial encapsulation – at least one side of the sleeve should be left open so that the document can breathe, and acid from the document does not become trapped inside of the sleeve.
Access copies allow originals to be preserved in temperature and humidity controlled spaces while the information contained in them can be accessed by researchers. Newspapers are printed on paper that is particularly prone to deterioration, but by providing access to images of the newspaper on microfilm and the internet, thousands of researchers can view the information, whereas they physical paper would be unusable if it were provided to that many people.
Duplicates of digital records are also a form of preservation. Identical copies of born-digital records or digital surrogates can be stored in different places such as hard drives, compact disks, or cloud storage. If a hacker or server crash damages a file stored in an online environment, then the drive or disk may be used to replace it. If a storm damages a physical carrier like the drive, then the cloud version may be accessed in its place.
Preservation is distinct from conservation and restoration. Conservation involves physically or chemically treating an item to make it last as long as possible. Restoration means repairing an item to its original state, or as close as possible. Both conservation and restoration are specialized fields that require extensive training.
Learn more:
American Institute for Conservation: Public Resources
National Archives and Records Administration: Preservation
Northeast Document Conservation Center: Preservation Leaflets
Society of American Archivists: Dictionary of Archives Terminology