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Free Environmental Management Webinars

Registration is now open for five environmental management webinars. The webinars are being offered with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access, Education and Training Grant Program. Series I webinars are designed for institutions beginning a program; Series II webinars are for those with a year or more of environmental data, looking to advance data analysis and data-based decision-making. There is no cost to attend these webinars.

More information and registration

Remembering Dr. Peter Z. Adelstein

April 30, 2019 marked the passing of Dr. Peter Z. Adelstein, beloved chemist, colleague, comedian, mentor, and friend. Peter researched the permanence and physical properties of photographic film at the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY from 1949-1986. Less than a week after retiring from Kodak, he began his tenure at the recently founded Image Permanence Institute (IPI) at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he worked until retiring in 2013. He was an authority on film base and its deterioration and published over 80 papers related to his research. He was an influential leader and contributor to international standards throughout his tenure at IPI, which included serving as chair of both the ANSI and ISO committees dealing with the permanence of imaging media. Peter received multiple awards in recognition of his professional contributions including the Fuji Gold Medal presented by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (1998), the Civic Award from the Rochester Chamber of Congress (1999), a certificate of recognition from the International Imaging Industry Association (2003), and an Achievement Award from the Photographic Materials Group of the American Institute for Conservation (2016). Peter’s legacy lives on in the valuable publications and standards informed by his research, and in the positive impact he had on all those who benefited from working with him. He will truly be missed.

Research Assessments and Institutional Planning at the Image Permanence Institute

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded RIT $165,000 in funding to support assessment initiatives that will inform and strengthen short- and long-term research goals and institutional planning at IPI. This initiative includes a preservation research assessment that will engage and solicit feedback from colleagues throughout the preservation community to identify research needs and priorities recognized in the field. Assessment activities will include online surveys and working meetings hosted at RIT with library, archive, and museum leadership professionals, preservation researchers, and preservation educators who can speak to the preservation needs of cultural institutions. A one-year, full-time Preservation Research Associate position will be hired to collaborate with IPI’s Executive Director, Jae Gutierrez, on completing the research assessment activities.

Read the RIT Press Release

Training Sustainable Environmental Management Teams for Cultural Institutions

IPI was selected to receive an award of $199,801 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to increase the capacity of humanities collections professionals to independently establish and maintain sustainable environmental management programs. In cultural institutions an environmental management team that includes both collections and facilities staff creates a structure in which the insights gained from environmental monitoring are actively used to inform environmental management. This two-year project emphasizes the value of environmental management teams and includes a series of webinars and workshops appropriate for small, mid-size, and large institutions that will provide essential knowledge and skills necessary for establishing environmental management teams. Project activities will be led by IPI’s Christopher Cameron, Sustainable Preservation Specialist, and Kelly Krish, Preventive Conservation Specialist. In the weeks ahead, IPI will conduct an online survey to inform curriculum development for this project.

Read the NEH Press Release

Enhancing the Educational Value of Graphics Atlas

IPI recently received a $17,000 Digital Resources grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to add new preservation content to IPI’s online resource Graphics Atlas. Initially launched in 2007, Graphics Atlas currently has over 20,000 unique users a year and is an interactive digital resource that guides users through a process of identification and characterization of graphic print media. In doing so, it has proven successful in helping collections care professionals identify objects in print media collections and to better understand the history and material composition of print and photographic materials. New content, based on years of preservation research at IPI, will be developed by Al Carver-Kubik, Research Scientist, and will expand Graphics Atlas’ function to also inform preservation planning for print media collections.

IMLS Funds Emergency Response Research

IPI has been awarded a National Leadership Grant of $453,054 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a three-year research project titled Evaluating the Potential for Freezing and Freeze Drying to Improve Water Emergency Outcomes for Inkjet Prints. The project aims to determine if freezing and freeze drying are safe and effective for the recovery of modern museum inkjet print collections affected by water emergencies. Daniel Burge, Senior Research Scientist, and principal investigator for the project notes, “Of course, the first action item for all institutions is to take steps to prevent wetting of their inkjet print collections, but disasters can and will still happen and salvage skills to ensure the greatest chance of recovery are absolutely necessary.”

New Product: Environmental Monitoring Starter Kit

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