Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment
- Challenge
- Solution
- Outcome
California is home to one of the most diverse and expansive cultural collections in the world. These collections are spread across thousands of institutions who are the primary keepers of local and tribal history and art. Their collections capture the stories of our natural environment, societies, communities, and the events and people that shape them. California State Library is dedicated to make a coordinated and sustained effort to understand the nature and condition of its collections and be able to ultimately create a capability to design and gain support for policies, programs, and investments to ensure its collections remain protected and accessible to the communities and the world. The need for an action has never been more important as the state and its collections face significant risk from natural disasters exacerbated by climate change, inadequate storage facilities, scarce resources, and simple decay over time. In 2020, the California State Library embarked on the California Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment project to conduct an assessment of selected locations and compile comprehensive summary reports detailing findings and recommendations. Lume CG was awarded the contract to conduct this assessment.
Lume CG collaborated with the California State Library and 19 partner organizations representing a subset of California’s cultural heritage institutions to conduct an onsite examination of the collections of a targeted sampling of California’s local and regional cultural heritage institutions, including museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies with special emphasis on small- and mid-sized cultural heritage collections.
Our assessments resulted in:
· Helping a small number of institutions better care for California’s cultural assets by identifying overall risks to their collections and developing achievable preservation strategies, including environmental management, exhibit practices, digital collections policy development, and disaster or emergency preparedness.
· Helping the State in making better informed policy decisions relating to the care and protection of California’s cultural assets.
As a final outcome of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment, Lume CG developed a 5-year roadmap displaying options for mitigating major risks to the collections over time. We summarized the assessment findings and provided specific steps the state can take to support smaller cultural heritage institutions across the state, along with improvements that can be made at individual institutions.
· Helping a small number of institutions better care for California’s cultural assets by identifying overall risks to their collections and developing achievable preservation strategies, including environmental management, exhibit practices, digital collections policy development, and disaster or emergency preparedness.
· Helping the State in making better informed policy decisions relating to the care and protection of California’s cultural assets.
As a final outcome of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment, Lume CG developed a 5-year roadmap displaying options for mitigating major risks to the collections over time. We summarized the assessment findings and provided specific steps the state can take to support smaller cultural heritage institutions across the state, along with improvements that can be made at individual institutions.
Challenge
California is home to one of the most diverse and expansive cultural collections in the world. These collections are spread across thousands of institutions who are the primary keepers of local and tribal history and art. Their collections capture the stories of our natural environment, societies, communities, and the events and people that shape them. California State Library is dedicated to make a coordinated and sustained effort to understand the nature and condition of its collections and be able to ultimately create a capability to design and gain support for policies, programs, and investments to ensure its collections remain protected and accessible to the communities and the world. The need for an action has never been more important as the state and its collections face significant risk from natural disasters exacerbated by climate change, inadequate storage facilities, scarce resources, and simple decay over time. In 2020, the California State Library embarked on the California Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment project to conduct an assessment of selected locations and compile comprehensive summary reports detailing findings and recommendations. Lume CG was awarded the contract to conduct this assessment.
Solution
Lume CG collaborated with the California State Library and 19 partner organizations representing a subset of California’s cultural heritage institutions to conduct an onsite examination of the collections of a targeted sampling of California’s local and regional cultural heritage institutions, including museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies with special emphasis on small- and mid-sized cultural heritage collections.
Outcome
Our assessments resulted in:
· Helping a small number of institutions better care for California’s cultural assets by identifying overall risks to their collections and developing achievable preservation strategies, including environmental management, exhibit practices, digital collections policy development, and disaster or emergency preparedness.
· Helping the State in making better informed policy decisions relating to the care and protection of California’s cultural assets.
As a final outcome of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment, Lume CG developed a 5-year roadmap displaying options for mitigating major risks to the collections over time. We summarized the assessment findings and provided specific steps the state can take to support smaller cultural heritage institutions across the state, along with improvements that can be made at individual institutions.
· Helping a small number of institutions better care for California’s cultural assets by identifying overall risks to their collections and developing achievable preservation strategies, including environmental management, exhibit practices, digital collections policy development, and disaster or emergency preparedness.
· Helping the State in making better informed policy decisions relating to the care and protection of California’s cultural assets.
As a final outcome of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Assessment, Lume CG developed a 5-year roadmap displaying options for mitigating major risks to the collections over time. We summarized the assessment findings and provided specific steps the state can take to support smaller cultural heritage institutions across the state, along with improvements that can be made at individual institutions.