Desarrollo de un dispositivo IoT enfocado a la preservación de archivos bibliográficos patrimoniales en la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Cuenca

Abstract

Heritage books are essential historical and cultural archives that preserve the knowledge and stories of past civilizations, being fundamental for education and academic research. Due to their organic composition, historical documents are susceptible to deterioration caused by environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, and air quality. In this work, an IoT device was developed to monitor and optimize the care of heritage bibliographic archives at the Central Library of the University of Cuenca. The proposed device utilized an ESP32 SoC and various sensors: DHT22 for temperature and humidity, SDS011 for air quality, and SE045 for water level in a dehumidifier tank. These sensors allow measuring and recording the mentioned variables. Additionally, a Docker container of the Thingsboard platform was implemented to simplify the IoT platform and dashboard deployment. The collected data was transmitted via HTTPS to the Thingsboard platform. The result of the implementation allowed library staff to monitor conditions in real time, receive alerts for anomalies, and facilitate preventive measures to preserve the documents. As well, a significant improvement in the maintenance required for the conservation of heritage documents was observed, reducing the need for frequent manual interventions in restricted areas. This solution can be easily implemented and adapted in all heritage rooms of the University of Cuenca and other libraries, contributing to cultural and academic heritage preservation.