In library and archival science, preservation is a set of preventive conservation activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record, book, or object while making as few changes as possible. Preservation activities vary widely and may include monitoring the condition of items, maintaining the temperature and humidity in collection storage areas, writing a plan in case of emergencies, digitizing items, writing relevant metadata, and increasing accessibility. Preservation, in this definition, is practiced in a library or an archive by a librarian, archivist, or other professional when they perceive a record is in need of maintenance. Preservation should be distinguished from interventive conservation and restoration, which refers to the treatment and repair of individual items to slow the process of decay, or restore them to a usable state. Preventive conservation is occasionally used interchangeably with preservation, particularly outside the professional literature. Fundamentals Standard functions of preservation programs Risk management in collections is the preventive care of a collection as a whole. Preservation can include general collections maintenance activities such as security, environmental monitoring, preservation surveys, and more specialized activities such as mass deacidification. Disaster preparedness (RT: Disaster Plan / Business Continuation / Disaster Recovery / Disaster Mitigation Plan) is the practice of arranging for the necessary resources and planning the best course of action to prevent or minimize damage to a collection in the event of a disaster of any level of magnitude, whether natural or man-made. Digital preservation is the maintenance of digitally stored information. Some means of digital preservation include refreshing, migration, replication and emulation. This should not be confused with digitization, which is a process of creating digital information which must then itself be preserved digitally. Reformatting is the practice of creating copies of an object in another type of data-storage device. Reformatting processes include microfilming and digitization. Media-specific issues and treatments Books - Sizing & Leather Binding Ephemera and Realia Paper - Acid-free paper, Japanese tissue, Mummy paper, Paper splitting, and Print permanence Parchment - Parchment repair & Preservation of Illuminated Manuscripts Moving image - Film preservation & Video recording Sound recording - Preservation of magnetic audiotape Oral history preservation Language Preservation Visual material - Color photography § Preservation issues and Architectural reprography, a variety of technologies and media used to make multiple copies of original drawings or records created by architects, engineers, mapmakers and related professionals. Optical media preservation Ink Digitization A relatively new concept,