Climate Monitoring for Heritage Preservation at the Erasmus University Rotterdam Library

About the Heritage Officer and the Team

As a heritage officer at the University Library, I am responsible for managing, conserving, and providing access to the collections. My primary task is to ensure the long-term preservation of the collection. This requires precise monitoring, stable indoor climate conditions, and a proactive approach to preventing damage to valuable heritage materials.

Project Objective

Within the Physical Collections department, the preservation of the existing collection is paramount. To safeguard this, it is essential to continuously and accurately monitor climate conditions — particularly temperature and relative humidity. Fluctuations in these parameters can directly affect the condition of paper, bindings, printed works, and other vulnerable materials.

The University Library therefore sought reliable measuring equipment that would:

• Record long-term trends

• Be easily accessible to multiple colleagues

• Operate independently without mains power

• Help identify deviations at an early stage

Solution

Finding the Right Measuring Equipment

Although the university has a central climate control system, additional independent monitoring proved necessary. Existing manual equipment provided insufficient insight into trends and was too cumbersome for sustainable conservation management.

There was a clear need for data loggers that:

• Operate autonomously

• Are easy to use

• Can store data over long periods

• Allow data to be easily shared within the team

Pedak’s Proposed Solution

Pedak started by gathering additional information, including the number of rooms, the size of storage areas and display cases, and the types of materials being stored. Based on this, several suitable data loggers were proposed.

The library ultimately selected a system that:

• Can start small (with a single logger) and scale up easily

• Allows data to be read via Bluetooth and a mobile app

• Displays measured values on-site, which is highly practical during inspections

• Does not require a fixed power supply

• Can be flexibly deployed in both storage areas and display cases

Pedak even offered the option to test the solution in practice by lending a logger — a valuable step in the decision-making process.

Experience with Pedak meettechniek

The collaboration with Pedak has been experienced as very positive. Questions are answered quickly and thoroughly, and Pedak actively thinks along from the perspective of the University Library’s needs. A Pedak specialist also visited the site to assess the situation and discuss specific challenges.

This visit — and the tailored advice provided — were experienced as pleasant, friendly, and highly professional. The combination of product expertise, customer focus, and accessibility made a clear difference.

Impact on Daily Work and Results

Thanks to the new data loggers, the University Library now has significantly better control over climate conditions in storage areas and display cases. Key improvements include:

• Faster detection of deviations, enabling immediate corrective action

• Improved registration of climate trends over weeks, months, and years

• Greater control over the conservation process, essential for heritage preservation

• Easy data sharing with colleagues within the department

• Increased reliability of the documentation and monitoring system

The result: more stable storage conditions, reduced risk of damage, and a stronger foundation for sustainable heritage management.

Photos by: Arie Kers