Okay, imagine you have a toy that you really love and want to keep playing with forever. But sometimes, toys get old and break, or you forget where you put them and they get lost. So, you want to make sure your toy stays safe and happy for a long time.
Now, imagine a big museum has a bunch of REALLY important toys that lots of people want to see and learn from. But, these toys are even more fragile than your toy and need extra special care and attention. That's where a "preservation survey" comes in.
A preservation survey is like a big check-up for these important toys. Experts come in and look at each toy one by one to see if they're in good shape or need some extra help. They take pictures and notes, and sometimes even use special tools to see inside the toy to check for any problems.
After they finish checking all the toys, the experts make a plan to keep them all safe. This could mean moving the toys to a different spot to keep them away from sunlight or putting special materials on them to keep them clean and dry. It's like giving each toy a superhero outfit so they can keep fighting off the bad guys (like dust, bugs, and humidity).
All of this work is done to make sure that these important toys can keep being shown to people for a very long time, just like your toy that you want to keep playing with forever.