Determining the professional restorers training needs from archival staff knowledge
Abstract
After fire, water, and mold disasters, archival institutions rely on the restorers responding to moderate and catastrophic disasters. In the absence of the archival staff for reasons including area evacuation, institutional policy, and others, the restorers need knowledge in the training topics found in specific subject matters in order to save the various types of archival materials found in special collections and archives.^ An online survey package was distributed to archival staff and restorers to collect data on ranking importance for a body of knowledge consisting of three subject matters: indoor environment (7), recovery (7), and processing (7). The archival staff (n = 185) and restorers ( n = 52) participated in a two-group study (n = 237). The level of significance was set at p< .05. When archival staff and restorers ranked importance on the 21 training topics for a suggested training program, the groups exhibited statistically significant differences in five training topics. The archival staff found training topics on building triage (for damaged archival materials), controlling ultraviolet light damage, and preventing pest damage more important for restorers to learn prior to entering archival institutions post-disaster. If the restorers gain knowledge on the 21 training topics in the Chart of a Body of Knowledge in Archival Disaster Restoration, then they could fill the knowledge gap highlighted by this study.^
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Randy R. Rapp, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Education, Continuing
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