PRESERVATION

Preservation is an integral part of the California State Archives mission. The Preservation Laboratory plays a key role in caring for the collections housed in the California State Archives and the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The primary goal of the preservation program is to prolong the usable life of archival and manuscript materials.

Preservation Laboratory functions include various activities designed to stabilize and protect documents against damage or deterioration as well as actual treatment of damaged or deteriorated documents:

• Conservation treatment of archival materials including such procedures as mending, encapsulation, cleaning, etc.

• Housing the collection in archival quality storage materials and preparing collections for exhibition in the California State History Museum.

• Monitoring environmental conditions in areas where collections are stored, used and exhibited.

Conservation Specialists periodically schedule talks for the public on a variety of preservation topics. For answers to preservation related questions, referral to a professional conservator, or to schedule a talk contact the Archives preservation staff at (916) 653-8654 Monday - Friday, 8:00-5:00 or e-mail Kevin Turner kturner@sos.ca.gov or Juan Ramos at jramos@sos.ca.gov

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