Preservation and Conservation

Introduction

Established in 2002, the National Library’s Conservation Department has an institution wide remit to preserve and conserve the collections of the National Library of Ireland. The primary responsibility of the department is to safeguard the collections for future generations and this ethos determines the approach in all aspects of its work.

Pre and post conservation images of 'A Map of Mountain Colps in the parish of Enniskeen...', 1773.

The diverse range of work carried out by the conservation department includes projects such as: the implementation of the Preservation Assessment Survey, all conservation/preservation activities relating to Yeats : The life and work of William Butler Yeats, re-housing of photographic collections, phase boxing of rare ESTC volumes, conservation, preparation, packing and couriering of loan items within Ireland and overseas, to name but a few.

Preservation and Conservation

Preservation and conservation can be defined as follows:

Preservation:  the activity of protecting something from loss or danger.

Conservation: an occurrence of improvement by virtue of preventing loss 
                          or injury or other change. 
                                                                                   WordNet (r) 1.7

In general, preservation measures do not improve the condition of an object, but are used to slow down degradation and prevent damage by passive methods. By contrast, conservation aims to prolong the life and accessibility of collections through interventive treatments, which improve the physical, chemical and often visual condition of an object.

The Reader's Role

Our collections are at their most vulnerable whilst being accessed and handled, for this reason handling guidelines have been developed and are now in place in both the Manuscripts and Main Reading Room. These documents provide advice on how to handle our collections safety and if followed should help to reduce damage. Readers are requested to consult these documents carefully before accessing NLI collections.