BS 4971:2017 pdf download – Conservation and care of archive and library collections

BS 4971:2017 pdf download – Conservation and care of archive and library collections 4 Conservation policy and planning4.1General The collecting body should set out its conservation policy and strategy, which define objectives andactions and how it will protect and preserve its collections, in accordance with 4.2 and 4.3.Thesedocuments should be reviewed at least once every five years as part of the planning process. 4.2Conservation policy COMMENTARY ON 4.2 A conservation policy is one of the essential corporate documents required by all collecting bodies and isintended to exist alongside and in association with other related policies. The collecting body should define a conservation policy for the collections it holds and is planning tohold.The conservation policy should contain as a minimum: a) a statement of purpose of the collecting body, including its intention to protect and preserve collections; b) a commitment to develop an understanding of the nature and needs of the collections and to use this to inform a conservation strategy that aims to help it achieve its purpose; c) a statement that sets out its commitment to seeking and maintaining the necessary resourcesthat allows it to carry out its conservation strategy, including long term growth of collections an dformats as appropriate; and d) statements covering its aims for access, retention, handling,copying and sustainability (such asan energy policy ) relating to the conservation of its collections. 4.3Conservation strategy COMMENTARY ON 4.3 Conservation strategy defines how the collecting body aims to achieve the goals set out in itsconservation policy. The collecting body should develop and maintain a conservation strategy for the collections it holds.The conservation strategy should cover the following as a minimum: a) an assessment of collections and specific materials within them, that defines their scale, nature,physical vulnerability and general condition; b) an analysis of the environmental needs of material types in the collection and provision for the development of appropriate and sustainable storage and handling environments; c) identification and evaluation of risks to the collections, defining hazards, their impact and likelihood and any measures that can be taken to remove or reduce these hazards; d) definition and prioritization of the actions and measures necessary to protect and preserve collections and items in storage and in use; and e) development of a set of procedures for storage, handling and use of collections. 5 Preventive conservation5.1 Environments for storage COMMENTARY ON 5.1 The primary means of conserving archive collections is by storing...