Preservation Loan Services
Environmental Monitoring Equipment Loan Service
The use of environmental monitoring equipment provides crucial information for extending the life cycle of library, archive, and museum collections. Providing an adequate storage environment is the most cost-effective per-item strategy for protecting your assets. The best way to detect problems with temperature, humidity, and light levels is through an environmental monitoring program. Preservation Services offers a monitoring equipment loan service for institutions that recognize the need to monitor environmental conditions yet do not own the proper 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.
Temperature and Humidity Monitoring
IPI’s Preservation Environment Monitor (PEM), 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 PEM or HOBO to a computer is done by Lyrasis staff and a report is generated for the borrowing institution.
* 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 through the company’s websites:
Light Monitoring
Crawford Elsec UV Monitor (Type 762)
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation meter. While all light is damaging, ultraviolet light is the most damaging, causing collection materials to deteriorate. This meter is used to measure the percentage of UV radiation in natural and man-made light. The readings are helpful determining if UV filtering screens orlight 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.
- Lyrasis pays shipping costs to the borrowing institution, and the borrower is responsible for return mailing costs.
- To request loans of environmental monitoring equipment, contact Alicia Johnson, Preservation Administrative Coordinator.
