Purpose: The purpose of the 2014 Heritage Health Information Survey (HHIS) is to provide information about preservation and conservation practices at U.S. collecting institutions.

Coverage: The file contains records for 1,714 collecting institutions. The sample was stratified by type of institution (archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, and scientific collections) and size (large/medium or small). These institutions represent a universe of 31,290 collecting institutions. For the purposes of HHIS, eligibility was based on whether institutions had accepted preservation responsibility for collections of nonliving tangible and digital collections but excluded collections meant to be used by visitors or patrons and disposed of or replaced if they are lost or damaged.

Content: The data includes information about respondent institutions, as follows:

• Institutional Type and Governance
• Environment
• Preservation Activities
• Expenditures and Funding
• Collections Cataloging
• Collections and Holdings
• Staffing and Visitors

Frequency: HHIS was a follow-up to a previous study by Heritage Preservation (funded via a grant from IMLS) known as the Heritage Health Index 2004. A report of findings from this previous study is titled “A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections” is available at: http://www.conservation-us.org/docs/default-source/hhi/hhisummary.pdf?sfvrsn=2. No additional data collection is planned. 

Methods: Data were collected through an online questionnaire with links sent to all large/medium and some of the small institutions included in the original sampling frame. Small institutions for which there was no valid email address were sent a paper copy of the questionnaire. 

Use: These data are useful to researchers, journalists, practitioners, the public, and policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels.

More about this survey:

Protecting America’s Collections: Results from the Heritage Health Information Survey
IMLS Infographic Overview (PDF 1.17MB)
HHIS Snapshot (PDF, 75 KB) a look at the top highlights of the report
HHIS Graphics Toolkit (ZIP 1.3MB)
User’s Guide and Data File Documentation (PDF, 45 KB)
User’s Guide and Data File Documentation Appendices (PDF, 2.5MB)

Public Use Data Files 

Data files (SPSS) (CSV)