Webinar Series: Best Practice for Using the IPI Preservation Metrics to Assess Risk in Organic Collections

Dates: April 24 and May 8 2025

Time: 1:00-2:00pm EDT

Instructor: Marvin Cummings

Cost: $125 for two webinars.  

Registration deadline: April 17, 2025

Audience 

This professional development webinar series is designed for collections and facilities staff responsible for evaluating environmental data collected in collections spaces. It will be of particular interest to collections professionals using eClimateNotebook to manage and interpret environmental data.

Description

When evaluating a collection space environment, one of the primary questions to address is: how can I quantify the risks to my collection? The IPI environmental metrics for decision-making, Preservation Metrics, were first developed in the 1990s to help collections care specialists 1) account for the complexities between deterioration of collection materials and their environmental exposure and 2) to provide balanced approximations of the risks posed by particular storage and display environments. This two-part webinar series serves an introduction to using the IPI Preservation Metrics to evaluate and assess collection risks.

Team Participation Encouraged

In collecting institutions an environmental management team that includes both collections and facilities staff can create a structure to environmental management that includes regular meetings of collections and facilities staff to review data, discuss strategy, plan for changes, and generally inform each other about what is going on in their respective roles. For this webinar series we suggest team participation and encourage facilities and collections staff to attend the webinar sessions together.

April 24, 2025
Best Practice for Using the IPI Preservation Metrics to Assess Risk in Organic Collections, Part I: Chemical Change
This webinar will discuss 1) the origins of the IPI Preservation Index (PI) and Time Weighted Preservation Index (TWPI), 2) how to apply these metrics in practice to assess the risk of chemical change in organic materials posed by different environmental conditions, and 3) highlight their limitations to ensure they are appropriately used for collection management.

May 8, 2025
Best Practice for Using the IPI Preservation Metrics to Assess Risk in Organic Collections, Part II: Mechanical Damage
This webinar will discuss: 1) the origins of the IPI % Equilibrium Moisture Content (%EMC) and % Dimensional Change (%DC) metrics, 2) how to apply these metrics in practice to assess the risk of mechanical damage to organic materials posed by different environmental conditions, and 3) highlight their limitations to ensure they are appropriately used for collection management.  

Webinar Registration Policies

• No registrations will be accepted after the registration deadline.
• Registration fees will not be refunded.
• Registrants who are unable to attend the live webinar session can request access to a recording. Access to the recording will be limited to two weeks after the live session. Contact ipiwww@rit.edu for assistance.
• Registration is not confirmed until payment is made.

Technical Information

• Webinars are presented live in Eastern Daylight Time.
• Closed captioning via Zoom is available for all live webinar sessions.
• Instructions to access the webinar will be sent within a few days once payment is confirmed.
• Before attending a webinar session, we recommend that you test your connection to ensure you will be able to run the program successfully. Update your Zoom Client for Meetings at:  https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting