ICCROM launches heritage samples management guide
Does your institution hold a collection of heritage samples?
Are you facing challenges with their management, preservation, and accessibility?
ICCROM is launching a new resource to support heritage professionals – including conservators, scientists, and stakeholders – in safeguarding these vital collections. Heritage samples are an essential resource for research and training and are valuable cultural assets in their own right. Yet they are often overlooked. Many are at risk due to a lack of recognition, inadequate archival management, insufficient resources, and the absence of clear policies governing their care and use.
The Heritage Samples Archives: A Guide for Management aims to improve the care and preservation of these collections – ensuring they remain accessible, meaningful, and protected for future use.
The guide offers practical support for managing sample collections, helping transform them from isolated assets into dynamic, networked resources accessible to the wider research community.
- Part I: Managing a Samples Collection as an Archive focuses on improving the organization, description, housing and preservation of collections.
- Part II: Developing a Statement of Significance guides stakeholders in articulating the value of their collection, helping policy-makers and users understand its relevance and potential and make informed decision-making.
- Part III: Creating an Access Policy offers tools to facilitate access and support the reuse of samples for research purposes.
Throughout the guide, readers are directed to in-depth resources, while real-world examples illustrate how these principles can be adapted to different contexts.
Developed as part of the Heritage Samples Archives Initiative, this guide underscores the vital role existing sample archives can play in advancing heritage sustainability. By encouraging sample reuse, it helps reduce the need for new sampling and promotes more responsible resource management. It also advocates for greater recognition of these valuable materials and supports the creation of a global network through the Register of Heritage Samples Archives, a complementary tool launched by ICCROM in 2024.
We encourage you to join this growing community by registering your sample collections and contributing to this collective effort.