{"id":95,"date":"2020-01-06T18:12:41","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T18:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/?p=95"},"modified":"2024-05-03T18:26:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T18:26:08","slug":"building-archive-storage-from-the-dirt-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/2020\/01\/06\/building-archive-storage-from-the-dirt-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Archive Storage from the Dirt Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Megan Atkinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennessee Tech University Archives and Special Collections would like to showcase its new storage facility located on the first floor of the Angelo and Jennette Volpe Library.  The facility\u2019s construction was funded by the Tennessee Tech Foundation, Friends of the Volpe Library, and the Angelo and Jennette Volpe Library Support Endowment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennessee Tech Archives houses over 2,500 cubic feet of\nmaterials and is constantly growing, taking in more physical records and their\nelectronic equivalents every week. \nHousing archival materials requires more work than just placing\nmaterials in boxes on shelves.  Archives\nrequire daily maintenance and the correct storage facilities. This includes\ndusting, cleaning, monitoring for pests, and monitoring for the correct\ntemperature and relative humidity. \nProper storage requires a temperature of 35-65 degrees and relative\nhumidity between 30-50 percent, with little to no fluctuation between\nseasons.  These temperatures are not\nconducive to comfortable working conditions and are impossible to obtain with a\nstandard HVAC system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I started in December of 2015, I immediately recognized\nthe need for better storage in the current facilities. When monitored, the\ntemperature and humidity fluctuated daily. \nThis can cause problems such as materials deteriorating at a faster\nrate, creating the potential for pests, and causing mold to activate.  Fortunately, there was a solution on the\nhorizon.  Volpe Library had what was\ncalled \u201cthe dirt room,\u201d which was a large space across the hall from archives\nset aside for future development during the library\u2019s original construction in\n1989. The room was not called \u201cthe dirt room\u201d as a silly joke; it truly was an\nunexcavated room containing nothing but dirt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Picture showing the piles of dirt located in the area prior to excavation. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Workers moving dirt out of the building through a large opening added for the purpose of working in this room. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Completing the project involved removing this dirt,\nfinishing the room, and installing a dedicated HVAC unit for the archives that\ncould maintain the storage conditions required of archive facilities.  The room, completed in December 2019, now\nboasts its own HVAC and new compact shelving unit which allows for future\ncollection growth.  Tennessee Tech\nArchives staff and student employees worked diligently throughout the break and\nare continuing working into the new year getting the new facility up and\nrunning for the start of the semester. \nStay tuned for an open house in April for Tech and the community where\nwe will show off our new storage facility and some of the treasures it\ncontains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The new HVAC system being installed. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The new aisles of compact shelving are in place!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The collections currently on the new compact shelving and being stored in the new facility.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To follow events happening at Tennessee Tech Archives, follow our Facebook page https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TnTechArchives\/<\/a> or Tech Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Megan Atkinson Tennessee Tech University Archives and Special Collections would like to showcase its new storage facility located on the first floor of the Angelo and Jennette Volpe Library.  The facility\u2019s construction was funded by the Tennessee Tech Foundation, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[41,48,42,47,50,44,6,43,4,46],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-archivestorage","tag-compactshelving","tag-dirtroom","tag-hvac","tag-lookwhatwearedoing","tag-relativehumidity","tag-techyeah","tag-temperature","tag-ttuarchives","tag-volpelibrary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}