Assessment of the Preservation Status of the “Gobierno Superior Civil” Collection at the National Archives of the Republic of Cuba

Abstract

The study aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the “Gobierno Superior Civil” collection in order to determine deteriorations present, analyze the conditions of the vault where documents are kept, and evaluate temperature, relative humidity, and lighting conditions in the room. During 2013, the average values of temperature and relative humidity inside the vault were 29 °C and 59%, respectively. Illuminance values did not exceed those allowed for paper documents (50 lux), except when it came from artificial light on cloudy days. 312 bundles, from a total of 1677, were analyzed using the Diagnos program. Such bundles are composed almost entirely of rag paper written with iron gall ink. The predominant deteriorations were dirt, yellowing, brittle paper, with cracks and creases, and documents damaged due to oxidation of iron gall ink.