User Manual

Basics in archives and libraries
9
Building Technologies 049_Archives_and_Libraries_A6
V10271399_a_en.doc
Fire Safety & Security Products 03.2009
for the objects (climate, harmful substances in the form of gas and particles, pests,
facilities, operational processes etc.) should be such that the objects are not dam-
aged and the rate of decomposition is as low as possible.
2.4 Preventive conservation
As opposed to conservation in the classical sense which attempts to maintain the
item by treating the individual object, preventive conservation tries to improve the
surrounding of an object (e.g. environmental conditions) and therefore sustainable
extending the tradition of the objects.
Fig. 2 Elements of preventive conservation
2.5 Fire detection and fire fighting
Due to the size of archives and libraries as well as the immense concentration of
value and information, great importance is attached to the early detection of fire. In
archives and libraries, sometimes unique copies of rare stock can be found. This is
why the integrity of the objects is paramount in case of an incident.
The origin of a fire must be detected as early as possible so that fighting the fire
can be carried out promptly, on time and with as little allocation of resources as
possible. The extinguishing agent used should be highly effective, it should be de-
ployed purposefully in amounts as small as possible; it should not leave any resi-
dues on the relevant objects and, at the same time, not be a danger to the user.
The aim of the fire fighting measures, besides protecting the people, is to save the
directly affected stock from destruction or damage, to minimize the contamination
Destruction
(vandalism, war, terrorism)
Object
Packaging
Room
Building
Environmet
Object damage
(burglary, untraceability, war)
Everyday utilisation
(manipulation, transportation)
Loss of information
(loss of metadata)
Vibration
(traffic, building, sonic)
Technical hazards
(fire, explosion, water)
Humidity
(absolute, variations)
Temperature
(absolute, variations)
Harmful substances
(gas, dust, particle, fluids)
Pest attack
(insects, mold, rodent, bacteria)
Forces of nature
(storm, water, fire, earthquake)
UV / Licht / IR