Säilötiloina

Säilötiloina is a term used in conservation science to describe the set of environmental and handling conditions that are considered optimal for preserving artefacts, documents, and other materials over time. In Finnish professional discourse, säilötiloina encompasses factors such as temperature, relative humidity, light exposure, air quality, vibration, and pest management, and it is used to guide storage planning, handling, and environmental control in museums, archives, libraries, and digital repositories.

The word is formed from säilö ("to preserve") and tila ("state, condition"), with the plural suffix -oina. The singular form säilötila is more common in everyday use; säilötiloina tends to appear in contexts listing multiple conditions or formal guidelines.

Practically, säilötiloina is implemented by monitoring and adjusting climate and housing conditions to minimize deterioration. Typical reference ranges in archival settings include around 18–22°C and 30–50% relative humidity for paper-based materials, with adjustments for textiles, photographs, and audiovisual media. Materials vary in tolerance, and provisions for light exposure, volatile pollutants, and mechanical stress are included. For digital materials, säilötila concepts cover stable environments as well as strategies for data integrity, media migration, and offline storage.

The term is more common in Finnish conservation literature than in international standards, and it serves as a useful umbrella concept linking environmental control, material science, and preservation planning. It emphasizes that preservation is achieved through a coordinated set of conditions rather than a single factor.