At the heart of the Institute is the Archive Vault. This area, surrounded on all but one side by reinforced concrete, holds Schoenberg's legacy and other primary resource material including more than 200 satellite collections. Kept at a constant 65 degrees Fahrenheit, 60% relative humidity, lit only by incandescent light (not fluorescent light which has a high component of ultraviolet radiation very damaging to virtually everything), sealed from any external source of contaminated air, and secured thoroughly against unauthorized entry, this controlled environment provides maximum protection to collections of irreplaceable intellectual value. Shelving is metal throughout to prevent needless damage from the inherent acid in wooden shelving save for magnetic media which are stored on paint-sealed wooden shelving to minimize the effects of stray magnetic fields no matter how minute. All shelving is braced into the concrete walls to decrease the likelihood of damage from endemic seismic activity. Finally all items are housed in acid-free or buffered containers (and increasingly sealed in Mylar encapsulations) as suit their individual needs.
Schoenberg's legacy, which forms the largest bulk of materials in the Vault, is preserved in Schoenberg's original arrangement wherever possible. Additional collections are generally maintained separately within the Archive. Some formats of materials, such as sound recordings or photographic materials, demand tailor-made storage conditions and are thus collocated together in the Archive to make storage and accessibility safer and more efficient.
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