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Photos available for download
Preservation Education Curriculum Image Library

Images have been provided to assist you in illustrating most of the lessons. This collection should not be considered the definitive source for preservation images. Rather, use it to enhance your presentations and perhaps update some of your existing images. NEDCC is grateful to the many vendors and institutions—libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies—that were willing to share their photographs for this project.

These photographs are available as 72 dpi JPEG files, which can be downloaded for multimedia presentations in the classroom. You can view the caption and copyright notice for each photograph when you view the enlarged image. These images are to be used for educational purposes only and should not be published without permission from the copyright holder.

Click on the classes (left) to view image thumbnails.
Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the image.

Building design and maintenance play important roles in risk assessment at the institutional level. Historic buildings have special considerations that may impact risk assessment. Flat roofs are susceptible to leaking, whether or not they are undergoing repair or replacement. Containing a water leak with plastic sheeting is only a stop-gap measure. The source of the leak must be found and repaired. Book returns that open into the library can be a target for arsonists; free-standing book returns are a safer alternative. Manual fire extinguishers should be easily accessible. Inadequate-or nonexistent-fire signaling puts collections at risk. Open paint cans and rags stored near a compressor constitute a fire hazard. Collections stored on the floor will be damaged even in a minor flood. Bricks that need to be repointed can cause water to seep into the building, leaving the walls open to water infiltration. Downspouts should direct water away from the building-unlike the broken one shown here-to prevent water damage inside the building. Old roofing materials (in this case, slate) can fail, exposing the lower layer(s) to the elements.