In 1981, a small group of Canadian conservators launched the Textile Conservation Newsletter (TCN). Produced entirely by volunteers, it quickly grew in circulation and profile, to attract contributions from around the world. Thirty-eight issues appeared, between Fall 1981 and Spring 2000. Starting in 1987, an annual supplement was published to accompany the Spring issue.

The American Institute for Conservation’s Textiles Specialty Group initiated a project to digitize the entire print run of the TCN, in order to make this resource available again to the wider conservation community. The idea for the project originated with Sarah Stevens, and the print originals were provided by Ann Shaftel. The TCN Archives have been prepared for online publication by Jennifer Cruise, Bonnie Naugle, and Anna Rose Keefe.

The TCN Archive is a window into twenty years of textile conservation, illustrating the challenges faced by conservators in institutions and in private practice, and the solutions they arrived at at the time. While it remains a valuable resource for consultation, please remember that it is a product of its time, and that some of the approaches and materials used then by the authors may differ from what they would use today.

Similarly, safety information and guidelines noted in the archive may not reflect current information or best practices. Data on toxic chemicals, standards for safety practices, and safety laws are time-sensitive subjects.  Do not follow any precautions or advice without checking current sources.

To help you use this resource, we have created multiple ways to search and browse the issues and supplements. Both are covered by subject and author indexes. The index to the supplemental issues, each a monograph or other resource on a single topic, allows you to browse their contents and to follow links to those of interest to you. A similar resource allows you to browse the full archive of issues. All issues and supplements are available as pdf files, on the TCN archive page. These indexes were prepared by Jennifer Cruise, Heather Hodge, Anna Rose Keefe, and Lucia Elledge.