Preservation Needs Survey

This week Library directors, along with directors of Nebraska musums, archives and historical societies, were emailed an invitation (text below) to complete an online survey of their collection preservation needs. Results will be used to create a preservation action plan for Nebraska. The survey is available at: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B5CV2M39C Only one needs to be completed per institutional unit. For technical questions contact Tom Clareson at tom.clareson@lyrasis.org or Liz Bishoff at liz.bishoff@gmail.com. For general information please contact lynne.ireland@nebraska.gov . Dear Colleague, Do you need help preserving your collections? Wish you had more resources—knowledge, staff, funding, storage, environmental controls? We can’t get more assistance for Nebraska museums, libraries, and archives without the facts—facts we can use to build a compelling case and plan for action. The purpose of the survey is to gather information on the most urgent collections needs, as identified by the more than 500 library and cultural heritage institutions in Nebraska. Survey partners include the Nebraska State Historical Society (which received a Connecting to Collections grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services [IMLS]); the Nebraska Arts Council; the Nebraska Humanities Council; the Nebraska Library Commission; and Nebraska Museum Association and the Nebraska Library Association. Connecting to Collections statewide planning grants have been used by many states to create statewide preservation plans for collections held in libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies. These grants are an important component of the IMLS initiative, Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, a multi-year, multi-faceted national plan to raise public awareness and inspire action on collections care. It may be possible to acquire future funding to act on preservation needs. But before we can act, we need the facts! For organizations that include a library, archive, museum, or a combination these organization types please submit just one survey. If you are an organization that has separate institutional units, such as a university with a university museum and a university library, please complete separate surveys. Confidentiality: Your responses are being collected and analyzed by an independent market research group. They will be kept confidential. Only aggregate results will be reported, and names of responding institutions will not be revealed. Please complete this survey by October 15, 2010. The results of the survey will be made available in a report to be published in early 2011. Your input is critically important. We need your help!