Condition Surveys

If an organization thinks specific collection materials may need conservation treatment, a condition survey can help. Condition surveys can help determine if there are steps you can take in-house to better preserve an item, or if an item needs a conservator’s special care. The resulting report provides detailed information that can help you make your case to funders to support needed conservation treatment.

Organizations should only apply for a condition survey after having completed a preservation survey or establishing a preservation plan. Your organization’s preservation survey doesn’t have to come from DHPSNY, but broader preservation goals need to be in place for us to consider offering a condition survey. It’s important to make sure your organization has addressed major environmental and policy recommendations.

During the process, a conservator will come on-site and gather data on a collection the institution has identified for the survey. The conservator will examine the condition of materials, assess current housing and storage, and note conservation treatment needs of the collection. Using this information, your institution will be able to develop an action plan for future preservation or conservation.

You’ll get a written report that:

• describes the condition of individual items in a discrete collection
• determines and prioritizes future conservation treatment
• explains how to incorporate the conservation needs of the collection into the overall goals and planning of the institution
• estimates of the number of items in the collection at risk and describes possible solutions

Note: This survey process does not include any conservation treatment of materials. It is focused on the pre-treatment examination of the materials and data collection for planning purposes.