PEMdata web site

pEMDATA: ENVIRONMENTAL DATA STORAGE AND ANALYSIS ON THE WEB

PEMdata is a free service that provides a place on the web where environmental data can be viewed and analyzed. It was created to facilitate the organization, interpretation, and sharing of temperature and humidity data used in libraries, archives, museums, and industrial and commercial activities. See it at www.pemdata.com.

Why the Web?

Storing data on a web server has powerful advantages for ease of use and accessibility to data. You always know where your data is, and it's accessible to you or anyone you choose to share it with, at any time, from anywhere.

How Does It Work?

IPI recommends the PEM2 for collecting data for upload to the PEMdata web site. This logger was designed from the outset to use the web for data storage and analysis. Any USB flash drive can be used to convey the data from the PEM2 to the web site. No software is required—just a computer (either Mac or PC) with web access.

The data can be stored on the server indefinitely. Once there, the data can be manipulated in a number of ways to generate reports or extract useful information for HVAC management or preservation of collections.

Any Special Features for Museums and Libraries?

PEMdata incorporates IPI's “preservation metrics”—a set of algorithms that process temperature and humidity data into numerical estimates of risk from specific kinds of deterioration that threaten museum and library collections. There is a metric for the risk of mold growth, the rate of spontaneous chemical change in organic material (what might be called the “natural aging rate”), and the risks posed by excessive dryness, dampness, and dimensional change in water-absorbing materials such as wood and paper.

What About Special Features for HVAC Management?

Perhaps the most useful feature for HVAC management is the ability to compare outdoor conditions with indoor ones. With PEMdata, outdoor temperature and RH data from more than 1,400 NOAA weather stations in the U.S. can easily be obtained. HVAC engineers can overlay outdoor data on their indoor data to determine how much heating, cooling, humidification, and dehumidification is occurring.

It's Really Free?

PEMdata is always free. There are two ways to use the site: registered and nonregistered. Registered users have access to all features. Nonregistered users cannot store data, and they can view only one data set at a time. Registration involves providing an e-mail address to verify that a user is a real person. During registration you are asked for an e-mail address and password only. You receive a confirmation e-mail containing a code that you will use to complete your registration.

Is It Secure?

PEMdata is housed on a physically secure server operated by GoDaddy, Inc. The server is backed up daily. IPI makes no claims or guarantees to protect users' data beyond reasonable care; users should keep backup copies of the data they upload to protect against accidental loss of server data. Users shouldn't put sensitive or confidential information into the names of data sets stored on the PEMdata site. For most users, the kind of content that can be uploaded to PEMdata—names of data sets and the temperature and RH data itself—should not pose security issues for their organizations.

What Is the Privacy Policy?

Ipi will not sell or release e-mail addresses or any other information to any third party. IPI may occasionally send registered users e-mails concerning PEMdata features and updates. Data and all content posted to PEMdata will be kept confidential. Users may post or remove data from PEMdata at any time.

Can Users Share Data with Others?

Each PEMdata account has a master user name and master password. However, access to the account can be extended by creating additional passwords for use with the master user name. It's also possible to have multiple accounts, but each account must have a different master user name.

Although original PEMs are no longer sold, the data from these monitors can be uploaded to PEMdata.com as well.

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