Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)

Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - THOMAS, David: Architectural Design and Technical Equipment for the Physical Protection and Conservation of Documents

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT FOR THE PHYSICAL PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OF DOCUMENTS

By David Thomas

1. The site. - 2. Temperature and relative humidity (p. 234). - 3. Air pollution (p. 237). - 3.1 Indoor sources of pollution (p. 237). - 3.2 Outdoor sources of air pollution (p. 239). - 4. Audio-visual materials (p. 241). - 5. Security (p. 244). - 6. Fire (p. 247). - 7. Other considerations (p. 249). - 7.1 Need for exhibition facilities (p. 250). - 7.2 Technological change (p. 250).

Those concerned with the problems of the physical protection of documents are fortunate that there is a wealth of useful publications to which they can refer1). This report is intended as a supplement to and a summary of existing literature. It is concerned with the passive conservation of archives: the provision of suitable conditions in which records can survive without deteriorating or being damaged. Space does not permit a discussion of active conservation: the physical repair of documents. The method chosen is to describe the main risks to which documents are exposed and to outline what is believed to be the best current advice as to ways of overcoming these dangers. The main areas to be covered are control of temperature and relative humidity, air pollution, criminal damage, and fire. The report ends with a discussion of the possible impact of new technology on archive buildings.

1

Traditionally, discussions of archive buildings have begun with a statement about the need for a suitable site. Ideally an archive building should be on ground not liable to flooding, sheltered from the sun, not exposed to humid or salty winds, far from chemical factories, explosive stores or strategic targets. It should be close to its depositors and to research institutes and libraries2). In

‘) Especially Michel Duchein Les bätiments d’archives: construction et équipements (Paris 1985); English edition Archives Buildings and Equipment (München 1977); Lionel Bell and Bemard Faye La conception des b&timents d’archives era pays tropical (Paris 1979); British Standards Institution Recommendation for the storage and exhibition of archival documents (BS 5454, 1977) (cited as BS).

2) Michel Duchein Les bätiments et équipements d’archives dans les pays tropicaux in Archivum special volume 2 (1980) 131; Bemard Faye The design of archives buildings in Unesco Journal of Information Science, Librarianship and Archives Administration 8 (1982) 91-92; BS section 4.