Evaluation of libraries and archives collections

The article deals with the experience of examining the state of library and archival collections by non-destructive methods in order to identify deterioration of various types, assess the state, determine the possibility of their further use and develop a conservation program. The methods of survey of stocks developed by Russian and Foreign libraries and archives are presented. The results of the examining are fixed in information cards, electronic preservation data passport, from which database status of document on the basis of software packages MS Access and MS Excel are formed. Consider the sample survey to ensure statistical validity of the results, representativeness, randomness, and sufficiency. The possibility of integration the database of state documents in the bibliographic database are shown. Evaluation of the state of the stocks allows to plan conservation activities in compliance with ethical standards of conservation, to provide an individual approach to each document and to the stocks a whole, to set priorities in the performance of work, to organize activities with minimal risk of document deterioration.