Preservation Loan Services
The use of environmental monitoring equipment provides crucial information about the storage conditions of library, archive and museum collections. Providing an appropriate storage environment is the most cost-effective strategy for protecting your assets. The best way to detect potential problems with temperature, humidity and light levels in collection storage and display areas is through an environmental monitoring program and the use of environmental monitoring equipment, which can provide the needed data.
Lyrasis Preservation Services also offers a loan service for monitoring equipment. The equipment available through our loan service is described briefly below; each piece of equipment comes with instructions. For information on proper environment specifications, see the Preservation Services informational leaflet, Environmental Specifications for the Storage of Library & Archival Materials (PDF).
This service is available to Lyrasis members only. Institutions may borrow a temperature or humidity logger for 6 months at a time, or a light meter for 1 month at a time. Talk to Lyrasis staff if you need a shorter or longer loan period.
Temperature and Humidity Monitoring
IPI's Preservation Environment Monitor (PEM2) and Onset Corp. HOBO U12-012
These are electronic data loggers that capture temperature and relative humidity at regulated intervals. Transfer of data from the PEM2 or HOBO to a computer is done by Lyrasis staff and charts of the temperature and RH are sent back to the institution. Lyrasis staff can provide a report further analyzing your institution's data for a fee.
Please talk with Lyrasis staff to determine how many data loggers you will need to borrow for your collections space.
Further information about the data loggers can be found at the companies' websites:
Light Monitoring
Crawford Elsec UV Monitor (Type 762)
While all light is damaging, ultraviolet light is the most damaging, causing collection materials to deteriorate. This ultraviolet (UV) radiation meter is used to measure the percentage of UV radiation in natural and manmade light. The readings are helpful determining if UV filtering screens or light bulb filters are needed.
Loan Terms and Costs
- Data loggers are available for a loan period of up to one month.
- UV light meter is available for a loan period of up to one week.