The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections Selected Data from A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections

The Heritage Health Index Surveyed Archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, archaeological repositories, and scientific research organizations Collecting institutions of all sizes and from every U.S. state and territory The full range of collections from art to vertebrate paleontology

Heritage Health Index Background The Heritage Health Index was developed with the input of 35 national associations and federal agencies that represent collecting institutions The survey questionnaire was written in consultation with more than 100 leading collections and preservation professionals Survey and analysis was conducted by RMC Research Corporation, a firm experienced in government and non-profit sector studies. For more information, see “Chapter 1: Heritage Health Index Development” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Heritage Health Index Background In August 2004 the survey was sent to a sample group of 15,000 institutions representing all types and sizes of institutions in every U.S. state and territory The data collection ended December 2004 Report released December 6, 2005. Final report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

The Results of the Heritage Health Index Have Been Featured In The New York Times San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Columbus Dispatch through Associated Press story National Public Radio’s All Things Considered Christian Science Monitor Reader’s Digest American Libraries The Art Newspaper KJO-ABC TV in San Francisco …among other publications

Heritage Health Index Response Rate Overall, 24% response rate with 3,370 surveys returned 90% response rate from 500 of the nation’s largest and most significant collections The 500 targeted institutions were balanced by type and state of institution and included all state libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies as well as major federal collecting institutions such as the Library of Congress, all units of the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Smithsonian Institution. For more information, see “Planning Survey Implementation” in “Chapter 1: Heritage Health Index Development” (p. 6-7) and “Final Dispositions and Response Rates” in “Chapter 2: Heritage Health Index Methodology” (p. 13-15) in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Heritage Health Index Data Projections Data has been projected to a study population of 30,827 collecting institutions and represents the condition and preservation needs of all U.S. collections held in the public trust Includes collecting institutions that have collections for which they take a preservation responsibility. For more information see “Study Projections” in “Chapter 2: Heritage Health Index Methodology (p. 20-21)” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Representation by Specific Institutions Archives include only those institutions that indicated archives as their primary function or service. The Heritage Health Index found that an additional 44% of collecting institutions had a secondary or subsidiary function as archives. Independent Research Libraries include libraries that are members of the Independent Research Library Association (IRLA), national government libraries, and state libraries. For more information, see “Chapter 3: Characteristics of Collecting Institutions in the United States” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Representation by Size of Institution Definitions by size varied by type of institution: Size of libraries, archives, and archaeological repositories/scientific research collections where based on size of collection. Size of public libraries was based on service population. Size of historical societies and museums was based on annual operating budget. For more information, see “Subgroup—Institution Size” in “Chapter 2: Heritage Health Index Methodology” (pp. 17-19) in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Representation by Region 10% 17% 24% 15% 16% For more information, see “Subgroup—Region” in “Chapter 2: Heritage Health Index Methodology” (pp. 19-20) in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. 19%

U. S. Institutions Have Taken Responsibility to Preserve 4 U.S. Institutions Have Taken Responsibility to Preserve 4.8 Billion Collections Items Books/Bound Volumes 1.7 billion Microfilm/Microfiche 1 billion Natural Science Specimens 820.2 million Photographic Collections 727.4 million Archaeological Collections, individually cataloged 197.8 million Unbound Sheets, cataloged in items 95.8 million Online Files 54.6 million Historic Objects 48.3 million Recorded Sound 46.4 million Unbound Sheets, cataloged in linear feet 43.6 million Moving Images 40.2 million Art Objects 21.2 million Digital Materials 9 million Archaeological Collections, bulk cataloged in cubic feet 2.6 million For more information, see “Chapter 4: Condition of Collections” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

4. 8 Billion Collections Items Are Held by U. S 4.8 Billion Collections Items Are Held by U.S. Institutions - by type - The high number of library based collections such as microfilm and books means libraries hold much of the collection items in the U.S. For more information, see “Chapter 4: Condition of Collections” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Includes items for which institutions take a preservation responsibility

4. 8 Billion Collections Items Are Held by U. S 4.8 Billion Collections Items Are Held by U.S. Institutions - by size - For more information, see “Chapter 4: Condition of Collections” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Includes items for which institutions take a preservation responsibility

Condition of U.S. Collections No need: Material is stable enough for use and is housed in a stable environment that protects it from long-term damage and deterioration. Need: Material may need minor treatment to make it stable enough for use, and/or the collection needs to be rehoused into a more stable enclosure or environment to reduce risk of damage or deterioration. Urgent Need: Material needs major treatment or reformatting to make it stable enough for use, and/or the material is located in an enclosure or environment that is causing damage or deterioration. For machine-readable collections, deterioration of media and/or obsolescence of play-back equipment or hardware/software threatens loss of content. Unknown: Material has not been recently accessed by staff for visual inspection and/or condition is unknown. For more information, see “Chapter 4: Condition of Collections” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Most Institutions Care for More Than Six Types of Collections Collections types: Books and bound volumes Unbound sheets Photographic collections Moving image collections Recorded sound collections Digital material collections Art objects Historic and ethnographic objects Archaeological collections Natural science specimens For more information, see “Chapter 8: Preservation Staffing & Activities” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions’ Use of Environmental Controls for the Preservation of Collections For more information, see “Chapter 5: Collections Environment” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions Using No Environmental Controls Institutions Using No Environmental Controls* for the Preservation of Collections - by type - For more information, see “Chapter 5: Collections Environment” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. *Including temperature, relative humidity, and light

Institutions Reporting Causes of Some and Significant Damage to Collections Some damage or loss: Change(s) in an item’s physical or chemical state requiring minor treatment. Significant damage or loss: Change(s) in an item’s physical or chemical state necessitating major treatment or reformatting or resulting in total loss of access. For more information, see “Chapter 5: Collections Environment” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions’ Collections Stored in Areas Large Enough to Accommodate Them Safely and Appropriately 59% 59% institutions have less than 80% of their collections shored in adequate areas. This goes up to 65% if “don’t know” is added. For more information, see “Chapter 6: Collections Storage” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions’ Percentage of Collections Accessible Through a Catalog - by type - For more information, see “Chapter 10: Assessments and Intellectual Control” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions With No Emergency Plan With Staff Trained to Carry It Out - by type - For more information, see “Chapter 6: Emergency Planning and Security” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions With No Emergency Plan With Staff Trained to Carry It Out - by size - For more information, see “Chapter 6: Emergency Planning and Security” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions with a Written, Long-range Plan for the Care of the Collection Written, long-range preservation plan for the care of the collection: a document that describes a multi-year course of action to meet an institution’s overall preservation needs for its collection. For more information, see “Chapter 4: Condition of Collections” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions’ Staffing for Conservation/Preservation Dedicated paid staff could include full-time or part-time workers. For more information, see “Chapter 8: Preservation Staffing & Activities” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Multiple responses allowed

Institutions’ Staffing for Conservation/Preservation - by type - Dedicated paid staff could include full-time or part-time workers. For more information, see “Chapter 8: Preservation Staffing & Activities” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Multiple responses allowed

Institutions’ Staffing for Conservation/Preservation - by size - Dedicated paid staff could include full-time or part-time workers. For more information, see “Chapter 8: Preservation Staffing & Activities” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Multiple responses allowed

Average Number of Internal Staff Average Number of Internal Staff* Who Perform Conservation/Preservation Activities For more information, see “Chapter 8: Preservation Staffing & Activities” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. *Includes conservation/preservation professional and support staff and volunteers

What Institutions’ Conservation/Preservation Program Includes Institution staff: Workers at the collecting entity that include temporary, hourly, and volunteer workers but do not include hired consultants. External providers: Workers, including volunteers, from outside the collecting entity or its parent institution(s) that provide conservation/preservation services, such as consultants and workers at another institution or firm. For more information, see “Chapter 8: Preservation Staffing & Activities” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Multiple responses allowed

Institutions with Funds Allocated for Conservation/ Preservation in Annual Budget For more information, see “Chapter 9: Preservation Expenditures & Funding” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions’ Annual Budget for Conservation/Preservation Institutions’ Annual Budget for Conservation/Preservation* - most recently completed fiscal year - For more information, see “Chapter 9: Preservation Expenditures & Funding” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. * Includes funds for staffing, supplies, equipment, surveys, treatment, preservation reformatting, commercial binding, consultants, contractors, and other preservation costs

Institutions that Used Income from Endowed Funds for Conservation/Preservation - last three years - For more information, see “Chapter 9: Preservation Expenditures & Funding” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org.

Institutions that Have Received External Conservation/ Preservation Funding - last three years - For more information, see “Chapter 9: Preservation Expenditures & Funding” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Multiple responses allowed

Institutions that Have Applied for Conservation/Preservation Funding Institutions that Have Applied for Conservation/Preservation Funding* - last three years - For more information, see “Chapter 9: Preservation Expenditures & Funding” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. * Includes from private or public funding sources

Institutions’ Reasons Why They Have Not Applied for Conservation/Preservation Funding* - last three years - For more information, see “Chapter 9: Preservation Expenditures & Funding” in The Heritage Health Index Report at www.heritagehealthindex.org. Multiple responses allowed *Includes from private or public funding sources

Heritage Health Index Recommendations Every institution recommits to providing safe conditions for the collections they hold in trust Every collecting institution develops an emergency plan to protect its collections Every single institution assigns responsibility for caring for collections to members of its staff Individuals at all levels of government and in the private sector assume responsibility for providing the support that will allow these collections to survive

For more information, contact Heritage Preservation at 202-233-0800 or survey@heritagepreservation.org Heritage Health Index report available at www.heritagehealthindex.org.