PEM tutorial

Tutorial: Original PEM

Please note that these guidelines apply only to the original PEM, which is no longer available.

To better understand how the storage environment is affecting the preservation of collections.
To gather accurate statistical information about the storage environment.
To develop long- and short-term plans for collection care and preservation and to head off potential storage problems.
To document HVAC system performance.
To optimize preservation benefits and avoid unnecessary energy costs.
To communicate environmental concerns to managers and facilities staff.

Convene a meeting of staff responsible for or concerned with the storage environment to set project goals. This team could include collection care staff, facilities managers, and preservation specialists.
Assign a person to manage the project and to share data and reports with members of this team.
Set a schedule for data collection. You’ll need at least a year’s worth of data from each space for accurate analysis. Monthly or quarterly uploads are most effective.
Use the PEM as a strategic analysis tool, not an alarm system.
Educate staff and patrons about preservation by explaining why you have a monitoring program and how important the storage environment is for long-term preservation of collections.

In indoor areas, including cold vaults, sealed but unheated buildings, and storage and display areas. Not outdoors.
In the same environment that collections experience.
In areas that hold the most important or most vulnerable collections.
In each storage or display area where the environment is likely to be different from others because of HVAC systems or special circumstances.
Midway between the floor and the top shelf or ceiling.
Away from outside doors, air vents, radiators, cold walls, fans, or other direct sources of heated, cooled, dehumidified, or humidified air.
Out of direct sunlight.