Abstract/Résumé/Resumen
Preventive Conservation in Libraries and Archives is a collaborative project between Brazilian institutions aiming primarily to increase the knowledge and practice of preventive conservation. Besides the technical partnership with the Commission on Preservation and Access, the project is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Brazilian Vitae Foundation. In 1997, fifty-two technical pieces on the preventive conservation of documents, films, photographs, discs, and magnetic media were translated, published, and distributed free of charge to over 1,332 institutions registered in the project, as well as to lectures, collaborators, and educational institutions. Workshops on preventive conservation were also organized throughout Brazil, aiming to prepare professionals who could later encourage others to read the texts and apply the knowledge learned in institutional programs. The success led to renewed support from sponsoring agencies in 1998, enabling the continuity of the project and the consolidation of a collaborative network of preservation information. Moreover, the project received the highest prize offered by the Ministry for Culture in the area of cultural heritage, the Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade - 1998 Award.
