Survey of Records

Conducting a survey of records is one of the earliest stages of archiving. It involves the evaluation of the content as well as the quantity of the available records and its physical condition. The information is used for the subsequent steps in building an archive.

Although most of the records found during the survey at IIT Madras are in good condition, some records are in a deteriorated state. Most common causes for deterioration include termites, silverfish and other insect attacks ,and acidification of paper and other damages caused by poor storage coditions. During the survey, records are assessed for their conservation requirements, and the ones in damaged or deteriorated condition will be subjected to conservation steps.

Here are some of the pictures from the survey conducted by the Archives Team at various locations of IIT Madras showing the varying condition of records.