Webinars

Upcoming Webinars

Webinar Series: Monitoring Collection Storage Environments

May 29, June 12, and June 26, 2025

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.

This sequential three-part webinar series will serve as an introduction or refresher course on the fundamentals of environmental monitoring of collections storage spaces. Each webinar summarizes key concepts outlined in IPI’s Guide to Sustainable Preservation Practices for Managing Storage Environments including understanding how environmental conditions influence the preservation of collections, collecting environmental data, and evaluating environmental data for collection storage spaces. The webinar will also discuss critical guiding principles for managing environmental conditions for cultural collections, and introduce field guideposts such as The Bizot Green Protocol and PAS 198:2012.

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Preservation Performance and Reuse of Sealed Frame Packages for Transit and Display

August 21, 2025

Paper-based objects that are sensitive to changes in relative humidity (RH) are commonly enclosed in sealed frame packages (SFP) to create microclimates for transit or display. This webinar will summarize findings from a recent IPI research project in which twenty-six different SFP designs were investigated for their effectiveness at buffering against external RH changes. Following initial conditioning of paper-based objects and enclosure materials at 45% RH, dataloggers were placed inside each SFP and exposed to 70% RH for 12 weeks. The internal response of the SFPs to the external RH were quantitatively assessed, alongside qualitative assessments of material reusability.

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Environmental Conditions in Shipping Crates During Transit

September 4, 2025

Historically, museum objects going out for loan travel by crate. As the cultural heritage profession looks to address sustainability, institutions are re-evaluating all aspects of museum operations, including how to address sustainability in crate design. Currently there is limited data documenting what environmental conditions objects actually experience in museum shipping crates while traveling. This webinar will summarize the results from a 3-year field study monitoring crate performance during travel. It will address the types of risks associated with temperature and relative humidity conditions in crates during travel and will highlight best practices when weighing environmental risk with sustainability.

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Webinar Archive

Introduction to 3D Printing for Cultural Heritage

This webinar will provide an introduction to 3D printing for preservation professionals. Information covered will include an overview of 3D printing processes, terminology, commonly printed materials, and application areas within a cultural heritage setting.

August 24, 2023 Watch the Recording

Sustainability on Display: Preservation-Friendly Ways of Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Museum Exhibits

In this webinar, three cultural heritage professionals will share their work related to preservation-friendly ways of reducing the carbon footprint of museum exhibits.

February 3, 2022 Watch the Recording

Introduction to HVAC Systems

This webinar will explain the operation of how these mechanical systems create environmental conditions for collecting institutions.

October 14, 2021 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Sustainable Preservation: Quick Tips and Approaches for Museums, Libraries, and Archives

Three cultural heritage professionals that represent a cross section of the field are joining the Image Permanence Institute to present quick tips and actionable approaches to environmentally sustainable preservation practices.

May 6, 2021 Watch the Recording

Energy Monitoring for Cultural Heritage Institutions

This webinar explains why institutions should consider energy monitoring, different strategies for doing so, and how the data collected can inform decision-making.

February 19, 2021 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Responding to Issues

This webinar discusses how to make basic environmental changes or adjustments to improve preservation environments, and provide guidelines for avoiding responses that may have negative consequences.

July 9, 2020 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Setting Appropriate Parameters

The webinar summarizes the broader field of research and standards, and discuss factors to consider when setting environmental parameters.

June 11, 2020 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Understanding Fluctuations and Equilibrations

The webinar begins by expanding upon foundational research and theory by reviewing objects’ responses to environmental fluctuations and factors affecting the rate of object equilibration.

May 14, 2020 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Evaluating Collection Spaces

This webinar addresses how to implement an environmental management program, from identifying the key features of a mechanical system that create indoor environmental conditions, to where problematic microclimates may exist in a collection space, to how to begin an environmental monitoring program.

August 16, 2019 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Preventive Conservation and the Role of Environment

The webinar begins by covering how the environment fits into the larger frameworks of preventive conservation and risk analysis, and focusing on the environment’s impact on preservation, including how to identify what materials within a collection are most vulnerable to these factors.

July 25, 2019 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

Using Identification to Improve Collection Preservation and Access

The webinar series culminates with a discussion of preservation and access for photographic collections. This presentation draws from recent research to include an overview of collections care for prints and photographs, such as proper storage, handling and display methods, and guidelines for a preservation storage environment.

February 14, 2018 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

A Methodology for Process Identification, Part 2

This webinar showcases IPI’s web resource, www.GraphicsAtlas.org. It highlights the new process identification pages launched in December 2016 as well as the new filtered search and controlled vocabulary. IPI staff demonstrate how these new features can be used toward accurate process ID.

January 10, 2018 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

A Methodology for Process Identification, Part 1

Process identification can be overwhelming and daunting. IPI has developed several tools in order to make this task easier. This includes a step-by-step methodology and a controlled vocabulary specific to photograph characteristics for identification. This webinar presents the methodology and controlled vocabulary.

December 13, 2017 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

21st Century Materials and Technologies

This webinar provides an overview of 21st century digital printing processes. It includes a description of the three most common printing technologies as well as the range of materials available.

November 8, 2017 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

20th Century Materials and Technologies

This webinar begins with an overview of 20th century materials and technologies. It focuses on the diversity of silver gelatin developed out prints. It also includes a discussion of color photographic processes and technologies.

October 11, 2017 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)

19th Century Materials and Technologies

This webinar discusses the diverse range of photographic materials and technologies used during the 19th century. It begins with a brief introduction to basic photographic technologies including the camera and printing methods. An overview of photographic printing processes and materials based on the light sensitivity of silver, iron, and chromium are given.

September 13, 2017 Watch the Recording Download (PDF)