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Archival Records stored at TCA are preserved within our climate-controlled repositories. Preservation prolongs the life of Records and reduces the need for laboratory treatment by improving the physical storage environment.

These actions include replacing acidic storage materials such as boxes and file folders with materials of known archival quality, improving shelving practices, removing damaging fasteners, reproducing unstable materials onto stable replacement materials, and dusting boxes and shelves in the repository with consistent temperature and humidity.

During the preservation survey, fragile Records requiring conservation treatment are identified. Conservation techniques are complex and the treatment of each Record is treated differently. Although TCA has trained conservationists on its staff, external or contractual specialist conservators are consulted when the need arises.

All files accessioned into the Collection are catalogued and arranged according to provenance. Fragile and important Records are identified and scanned. Frequent handling of the original fragile Records can endanger its existence. To protect and to ensure its accessibility, digitisation of Records is being carried out on a priority basis at TCA. This ensures protection from handling and theft, which is perceived as a major risk.

The digitised surrogates are then imported into a customised archival retrieval software to enable content search and easy dissemination of the Records.

The digitized images are available to the Tata companies on a DVD with an encrypted search engine. This ensures ease of access to information instantly. TCA has ensured increased utility to the collections by allowing a wider audience access to the digital surrogates.