The Preservation and Access Education and Training program is central to NEH's efforts to preserve and establish access to cultural heritage resources.

Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts,

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photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture collections, electronic records, and digital objects.

The challenge of preserving and making accessible such large and diverse holdings is enormous and the need for knowledgeable staff is significant and ongoing.Preservation and Access Education and Training grants help the staff of cultural institutions, large and small, obtain the knowledge and skills needed to serve as effective stewards of humanities collections.

Grants also support educational programs that prepare the next generation of conservators and preservation professionals, as well as projects that introduce the staff of cultural institutions to recent improvements in preservation and access practices.Preservation and Access Education and Training grants support activities such as these:
* regional preservation field services that provide a wide range of education and training (for example, through surveys, workshops, consultations, reference services, and informational materials about the care of humanities collections), especially for staff at smaller libraries, museums, archives, and other cultural organizations; * graduate programs in preservation and conservation; and * workshops that address preservation and access topics of broad significance and impact, such as * collections care training for staff members who are responsible for the day-to-day care and management of humanities collections; * preventive conservation and sustainable preservation strategies; * disaster preparedness, response, and recovery; * the preservation of and provision of access to recorded sound and moving image collections; * digital preservation; and * best practices for enhancing and integrating access to collections in libraries, archives, and museums.