Heritage Preservation, working in cooperation with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), will conduct a second Heritage Health Index. The original survey, conducted nearly 10 years ago, was the first comprehensive study to assess the condition of U.S. collections. It examined the state of preservation across the entire spectrum of collecting institutions, large and small, from internationally renowned art museums and research libraries to local historical societies and specialised archives. The results were published in 'A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections' and reported that 4.8 billion artifacts held in public trust were at risk and that 190 million were in need of immediate care.
Heritage Preservation and IMLS have entered into a $338,554 cooperative agreement to complete the study in 2015. The project will receive an additional $100,000 of support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The new Heritage Health Index, HHI II, will use a similar instrument and methodology to the 2004 study to see what changes have taken place in collections care in the US during the last ten years. HHI II will examine the extent and effectiveness of preservation activities and initiatives during that time and will recommend actions to improve the care of collections and ensure that they will be available for public access now and in the future.
Since the Heritage Health Index was first conducted, there has been a significant increase in museums and libraries collecting digital material or digitising collections. HHI II will address this by including questions asking how institutions are caring for digital artifacts. It will also determine how creating digital surrogates may be improving access to paper, photograph, audiovisual, and other collections, while protecting them from damage due to handling.
