USERS GUIDE

DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

Your digital collections may include digital images of some photographs that are in your collection. Consider whether these digital copies are a permanent part of your collection for which you take preservation responsibility. The original photographs should also be recorded under “Photographic Collections.”

THE ONGOING PROCESS OF PRESERVATION

The California State Library understands that preservation is an ongoing process. All other questions should be answered for the current situation and condition of your collections unless the work is already in progress. For example, you should report on current preservation staff, not staff you plan to hire or who no longer work with you. The estimate of condition should, again, reflect the current state of your collections unless improvement is in progress (e.g., black and white photographs currently being rehoused in appropriate sleeves and boxes).

If your entity has undertaken a major conservation treatment project this year, and your staffing levels are higher than usual, report this figure even if it is not typical.  The survey is meant to be a snapshot of current activities, and we expect to capture dips and peaks. While your entity’s expenditures may not be typical, this provides important information about the level of preservation activity.

TEMPORARY WORKERS

Temporary workers such as paid and part-time student workers should be included in your response to this question as part-time staff.

For example, if you have 3 part-time people who each work 12 hours a week, they will together work 36 hours a week or 80% of a 40-hour week.

TRAINED VOLUNTEERS

Trained volunteers who assist with the care of collections should be counted.

CONTRACTED PROVIDERS OR CONSULTANTS

Estimate the number of weeks/per year in total that any number of contracted providers or consultants worked with your collection in the past year.

PROVIDING YOUR ESTIMATES

Even if you have not undertaken a general condition assessment of all or part of your collections, provide your best estimate in each category, based on your working knowledge of the materials.

REPORTING YOUR BUDGET

Whether or not your entity has a specific budget line-item for preservation and conservation, complete this question if you use budgeted funds for staff and/or supplies.

LEVEL OF PRESERVATION ACTIVITY

If your entity has undertaken a major conservation treatment project this year, and your conservation/preservation budget and staffing levels are higher than usual, report this figure even if it is not typical.  The survey is meant to be a snapshot of current activities, and we expect to capture dips and peaks in funding levels. While your entity’s expenditures may not be typical, this provides important information about the level of preservation activity.

MATERIAL CATEGORIES

• Books and Bound Volumes: Items such as books, periodicals, bound manuscripts, published or unpublished, etc.
• Unbound Sheets: Items that have never been bound such as newspapers, letters, maps, records etc.
• Photographic Collections: Includes daguerreotypes, photo albums, and personal and art photographs.
• Moving Image Collections: Items such as videotapes, films, etc.
• Recorded Sound Collections: Includes items that capture music and performance, oral histories, bird sounds etc.
• Historic or Ethnographic Collections: Items including textiles, tools and furniture, and protest signage. All tangible objects that express a living or historic cultural heritage or moment.
• Archaeological, Individually Catalogued: Objects that are assigned accession numbers individually.
• Archaeological, Bulk: Items that are part of a group of objects in which the group is assigned an accession number.
• Natural Science Specimens: All preserved botanical or zoological specimens.
• Born Digital Material: Art, cultural, historical, or ethnographic materials which are created, managed, and preserved in digital form. This is in contrast to physical items of which a digitized version is created.

THEMATIC CATEGORIES

Every entity organizes its collection in a way that is meaningful to them. Therefore, the categories listed for this question may not exactly match the system you use. If you have collections that simply cannot fit in the specified categories, please use the appropriate “other” category. Even an estimate is useful in determining the scope of preservation needs.