[spcollig] Archives Help

[Lang, Esther]

Good Morning,

Unfortunately, our university has never had an archivist, but has only had
librarians oversee the archives when they had the time. I recently became
one of the overseers of our archives.



Because our archives is located in the basement, this summer, I tried
measuring the humidity and temperature of the room. The temperature
averaged around 68 degrees Fahrenheit, but I was more concerned to see that
our humidity ranged between 70% and 80%. We are trying to figure out how to
control the humidity, so recently added a portable dehumidifier down there.
Although it needs less emptying now that the weather has cooled down, I
don't think emptying it twice a day was enough this summer. We're going to
look into piping options.  I am convinced that many of our items are
damaged or moldy because of the humidity.  I have no idea if we have the
other extreme (dryness) in the winter.



Do you have any recommendations on good ways to handle humidity? Are there
best practice recommendations?  An average humidity of about 45% would
probably be best, correct?


On another note, I have noticed at least one millipede and several spiders
in our archives, and many more of these (as well as two beetles) in the
room right outside our archives.  Are there any bugs that I should
specifically be concerned about? Do you have any recommendations on how to
continually monitor pests, in addition to just having a pest control worker
come and do an inspection?  We do have carpeting in the archives, and I've
been wondering if that is also a major problem.



Thanks for any help or advice you can give! Or, if you could point me in a
good direction to find answers, that would also be appreciated.

*Esther Lang*
Collection Management Librarian | Trinity International University
2065 Half Day Rd. | Deerfield, IL 60015
(847) 317-4009 | erlang at tiu.edu
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