Conservation

The conservation area is linked to the purpose of an archive, especially when it is permanent, such as the USP General Archive. The sector is focused on safeguarding documents, responsible for developing and applying preservation policies at its headquarters and guiding the Sectoral Units/Bodies in the same direction, in order to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining the physical integrity of documents since their origin.

The measures adopted guarantee the conservation of the media and, consequently, the information contained therein. However, it goes beyond direct action on the collection. It is necessary to mobilize human and financial resources aimed at preventive conservation (prevention so as not to cure), reducing deterioration processes. In other words, such measures must be constant, from the formulation of the building project, establishment of emergency policies for possible accidents (fire, floods, etc.), control of access to storage areas, periodic inspections (of both the building and the collection , furniture), environmental control (maintain temperature and humidity levels at levels specified by specialized bibliography) and document entry (protecting the quarantine period and performing hygiene), separate documents from the rest of the collection if any infestation is found, forwarding for conservation or restoration if damage to the support is found, staff training, among other actions.

The General Archive seeks to address these parameters, striving to obtain acceptable levels of temperature and humidity in storage areas, maintaining routine activities, and the employees involved seeking to become aware of the new technological knowledge developed by and for the area. The building was designed for its purpose and since the project, storage, storage, quarantine and hygiene areas have been specified, which, in the configuration of the space, communicate with the other areas of the General Archive.