Purchase of Environmental Monitoring Equipment and Disaster Response Supplies

FAIN: PG-52154-14

Augustana University (Sioux Falls, SD 57197-0001)
Elizabeth Ann Thrond (Project Director: May 2013 to September 2015)

The purchase of environmental monitoring equipment, a light meter, pest traps, and salvage supplies to help staff care for the diverse collections in Augustana College's Center for Western Studies. The Center holds 5,000 linear feet of archival collections dating from the 1830s to the present, including the personal papers of regional authors Frederick Manfred, Herbert Krause, and John R. Milton, as well as association records of the South Dakota Diocese of the Episcopal Church, the South Dakota Conference of the United Church of Christ, and the Blue Cloud Abbey. The center also maintains an ethnographic art collection of 1,200 objects of Plains Indians material culture, largely focused on the Sioux tribes, that is used by scholars and students. Of particular note are hundreds of pipestone pipes, decorated with unique motifs, that support the study of Sioux spirituality, culture, and design.

The Center for Western Studies of Augustana College maintains archival, art, artifact, and library collections to facilitate study of the Northern Plains, specifically in the areas of history, art, literature, and culture. Grant funding will enable staff to expand their system of environmental monitoring in the Fantle Building, the Center's sole storage and exhibition facility, through the purchase of new temperature/humidity data loggers, a light meter to monitor light levels and to assist staff with developing a proper art rotation schedule, and supplies for the Center's first Integrated Pest Management system. Funding will also be used to create an accessible, in-house disaster kit for short term salvage use to improve the staff's ability to protect and recover collections during an emergency. These goals represent short term recommendations from the Center's recent participation in the Conservation Assessment Program. The project will begin January 1, 2014, and end May 31, 2014.