Datalogger monitoring the temperature and humidity levels in the Archives
In 2023, the Nevada State Archives proposed and was awarded a preservation assistance grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to hire a preservation specialist to visit the State Archives and provide recommendations.
Funded by this NEH grant, the Northeast Document Conservation Center, the premier conservation center in the country, sent two specialists to assess the State Archives in April 2024 and presented their final report in June 2024. The State Archives staff will use this report to determine priorities for their preservation activities so that future generations can access government records and that state government is accountable, transparent, and meets the needs of its citizens.
The State Archives has already acted in response to the report. One recommendation from the specialists was to monitor environmental conditions with dataloggers and reporting software. The State Archives purchased ten dataloggers, deployed them strategically in the building, and began monitoring the temperature and relative humidity in the areas where records and archives are stored.
Preserving the documentary history of Nevada is a challenging responsibility. State government records come in a variety of formats, such as fragile paper, photographs, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, dictabelts, and digital media. Regardless of the format, dramatic fluctuations in temperature or humidity can have detrimental effects on materials. Monitoring the temperature and humidity in archival storage spaces will provide the data needed to identify potential areas of improvement.
For more information, please contact the State Archives Manager at 775-684-3319 or claframboise@admin.nv.gov.
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