must be determined that is most appropriate to the material and its collecting institution. If the information is most important, reformatting or creation of a surrogate is a likely option. If the artifact itself is of value, it will receive conservation treatment, ideally of a reversible nature. Research and testing With old media deteriorating or showing their vulnerabilities and new media becoming available, research remains active in the field of conservation and preservation. Everything from how to preserve paper media to creating and maintaining electronic resources and gauging their digital permanence is being explored by students and professionals in archives/libraries. The two main issues that most institutions tend to face are the rapid disintegration of acidic paper and water damage (due to flooding, plumbing problems, etc.). Therefore, these areas of preservation, as well as new digital technologies, receive much of the research attention. The American Library Association has many scholarly journals that publish articles on preservation topics, such as College and Research Libraries, Information Technology and Libraries, and Library Resources and Technical Services. Scholarly periodicals in this field from other publishers include International Preservation News, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, and Collection Management among many others. Education Learning the proper methods of preservation is important and most archivists are educated on the subject at academic institutions that specifically cover archives and preservation. In the United States most repositories require archivists to have a degree from an ALA-accredited library school. Similar institutions exist in countries outside the US. Since 2010, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has enhanced funding for library and archives conservation education in three major conservation programs. These programs are all part of the Association of North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of Cultural Property (ANAGPIC). Another educational resource available to preservationists is the Northeast Document Conservation Center or NEDCC. The Preservation, Planning and Publications Committee of the Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) in the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services has created a Preservation Education Directory of ALA Accredited schools in the U.S. and Canada offering courses in preservation. The directory is updated approximately every three years. The 10th Edition was made available on the ALCTS web site in March 2015.Additional preservation education is available to librarians through various professional organizations, such as: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works American Library Association Amigos Library Services Preservation Service Association for Information and