A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections revealed that conservation and preservation needs are more acute at small collecting institutions. In the case of archives, libraries, and archaeological repositories/scientific research collections size was determined by number of collections items, for public libraries by service population, and for historical societies and museums by institutional budget (see Chapter 2, Heritage Health Index Methodology, pp. 17-19 for full definitions of size). Almost three quarters of collecting institutions in the U.S. could be considered small and these institutions hold 15% of the 4.8 billion collections items in the U.S. Much of the Heritage Health Index data is reported by size of institution and following graphs highlight particular areas of concern for small institutions.
Representation by Size of Institution
Representation by Type of Small Institution
4.8 Billion Artifacts Are Held in the U.S. (by size of institution)
Institutions’ Percentage of Collections Accessible Through a Catalog (by size)
Small Institutions’ Percentage of Collections Accessible Through a Catalog (by type)
Institutions with No Emergency Plan with Staff Trained to Carry It Out
Small Institutions with No Emergency Plan with Staff Trained to Carry It Out (by type)
Institutions’ Staffing for Conservation/Preservation (by size)
Small Institutions’ Staffing for Conservation/Preservation (by type)
Institutions’ Annual Budget for Conservation/Preservation (most recently completed fiscal year, by size)
Small Institutions’ Annual Budget for Conservation/Preservation (most recently completed fiscal year, by type)
