Examining the implications of the Heritage Health Index

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings and implications of the Heritage Health Index.

Design/methodology/approach

Description of survey conception, purpose, methodology, and the implications of selected results.

Findings

The 2005 Heritage Health Index (HHI) provides a sobering assessment of cultural heritage resources in the United States. A large percentage of the 4.8 billion artifacts in more than 30,000 archives, libraries, museums, historical societies, scientific research institutions and archaeological repositories are in sub‐optimal environmental conditions. At least a quarter are poorly cataloged. The HHI does not propose actions to alter this situation, but the author outlines four suggestions to assist weaker repositories and collections. These are: extend the mentorship model from individuals to organizations; provide greater incentives for collaborations between weaker and stronger institutions; investigate ways to take advantage of cooperative cataloging; and create better benchmarking and self assessment tools.

Practical implications

The article points to the institutions in which collections are most at risk and offers some options for strengthening these organizations which will hopefully result in increased preservation of and access to textual and artifactual collections.

Originality/value

The implications of the Health Heritage Index affect all types of cultural institutions (libraries, archives and museums) and provide a sober assessment of the majority of institutions holding cultural resources in the United States. The report challenges professionals in archives, museums, and libraries to take action to alter this trend.

Citation

Yakel, E. (2006), "Examining the implications of the Heritage Health Index", OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 92-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650750610663950