Topics – Page 28 – AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse

42nd Annual Meeting- OSG + RATS Session, May 30, “Blue, Red, and Wound All Over: Evaluating Condition Changes and Cleaning of Glass Disease on Beads” by Robin O’Hern and Kelly McHugh

Glass disease, weeping glass, glass deterioration, funky glass* (*author’s description)–just a few of the many names used to describe the degradation of glass beads that museums have observed as a white precipitate/cloudy appearance and/or cracking and splitting. If you’ve observed this in your collection, take notice- Mellon Fellow in Objects Conservation, Robin O’Hern, is on the case.
O’Hern has taken advantage of the history of glass disease detection at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and begun evaluating how the different cleaning methods have fared over the years. In 1999, Kelly McHugh (research supervisor and co-author) and Scott Carrlee performed a condition survey of the NMAI collection. The collection was moved into a state-of-the-art storage facility after the survey, where the RH has remained constant, but at a higher level than recommended for glass pieces. (The beads are present on composite pieces with hide, bone, shell, feather, hair, etc. and therefore the environmental controls must address as many materials as possible, not just glass.) Some of the pieces were treated at that time, and others have been treated in the interim years. Using the museum database, O’Hern found that 25% of the condition records that list glass beads as a material also list glass disease. O’Hern has performed another survey, this time seeking to observe condition changes over the past 15 years in a selection of objects from the 1999 survey, to assess treatment technique (ie, which solvents worked best to reduce glass disease), and to discover susceptibility trends (which beads are the worst culprits).
To understand the beads, O’Hern provided background on history of use and manufacture.

Glass beads arrived after contact with Europeans in 1492
Pony beads were introduced after 1675
Wound beads were introduced after the late 17th century
Seed beads were introduced 1710-1840
Red beads were colored from copper in the 17th century, ruby red in the early 18th century, and selenium in the 1890’s
Blue beads were colored from copper or cobalt, but from 1640-1700, they were tin-rich
Beads can be made by pulling the heated glass, called “drawn,” or by winding heated glass around a rod, called “wound”
Glass is made from silica, alkali (to lower the melting point, but also makes it water soluble), and calcium carbonate (that turns to lime- it’s added to help stabilize the glass after the alkali)

There are several explanations for the cause of glass disease. Too little or too much of the lime (part of the bead’s composition) may cause water to leach out of the glass matrix as ions that then form salt on the surface of the bead. The environmental conditions, such as fluctuations in RH, or materials in proximity, such as semi-tanned hide, may accelerate glass disease. As seen from the list above, the beads were manufactured over a range of time, in different ways, and in different places.
As you can tell, there are many factors to research when evaluating glass disease. O’Hern addressed as many as possible while still managing the scope of the project.
Survey Results
Condition Change: By comparing condition of the beads today to past condition/treatment reports, 16% of the beads have more deterioration now than in 1999. Measuring pH was used in addition to visual examination to determine condition. Some beads that did not look bad had a higher pH (above 7), signaling glass disease. Some beads that looked hazy did not have a higher pH, meaning no glass disease (perhaps hazy from manufacture).
Differing Manufacturing Techniques: Wound beads have it worse than drawn beads–95% of wound beads have glass disease. This could be because they have a compositional percentage of lime that is less stable.
Differing Colors: Black, red, and blue are the most disease-ridden. O’Hern looked through the museum database and found that the entries with the most “glass disease” indicated had blue beads. Blue beads are very clearly the “winner” of the glass disease competition, followed by red and black.
Treatment Techniques: Here’s where it gets even more interesting. The conservation literature and posts on the Objects Specialty Group list serve debate the use of three solvents to remove the salts on glass disease: water alone, ethanol alone, and a 1:1 water:ethanol mix. By comparing the 1999 survey to her own results, O’Hern capitalized on real-time aging to observe how each solvent mixture fares over time. Water-cleaned beads had a 50% rate of glass disease return; water:ethanol-cleaned had a slightly higher than 50% rate of return; ethanol-cleaned had the least amount of return at just under 50%. However, when looking at the beads cleaned with ethanol over the same time period as those cleaned with 1:1 water:ethanol (removing the very oldest treatments), the rate of return for glass disease falls to 40%.
(Note: Acetone has also been listed as a solvent for cleaning glass beads, but since the NMAI doesn’t use acetone, it was not included in this research.)
Other Observations:
1. Measuring pH is essential because beads may look like they don’t have glass disease, but are actually more alkaline. Measuring pH is also quick and easy- cut your pH strip to a small piece, slightly dampen it in deionized water, press it onto the bead for 3 seconds, and then determine any color change in the strip.
2. The most affected beads were those sewn onto hide, but the disease was present when beads were in contact with many other materials as well.
3. Although cleaning with ethanol is a better choice for long-term disease prevention, the solvent chosen should still depend on the substrate around the bead.
Advice from O’Hern:
1. Record treatment materials when removing glass disease.
2. Take BT and AT details of beads so you can easily compare for condition changes in the future.
3. Measure the pH of the beads… and RECORD THE RESULTS.
4. Have consistent monitoring of glass disease.
As an audience member, it’s always exciting to see a project that has results, especially on a topic that is not studied as extensively as it persists. This is definitely a postprint worth visiting for more details and results.
For other examples (and some “good” photographic examples), visit Ellen Carrlee’s project “What’s that White Stuff?” that she and (then WUDPAC graduate intern) Christa Pack reported on in Ellen’s blog: http://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/glass/

42nd Annual Meeting – Conservators in Private Practice, May 28, "Greening your Conservation Practice."

“Believing heat wheels work is like believing you can section off a part of a hot tub for peeing.”

Headline speaker Monona Rossol began this year’s CIPP workshop with her characteristic flair when referring to the use of the heat exchange system with contaminated air streams. The system is often recommended to score points for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification and served as an example of how greener practices may not necessarily be safer practices. An Industrial Hygienist and health and safety champion for the arts community, Monona is the founder of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety (ACTS). If you don’t leave one of her lectures concerned about everything you have ever come in contact with, you should at the very least have a better idea of how to navigate your way through the jargon of government, industry and product health and safety information.
The beginning of Monona’s talk introduced the pitfalls of blindly accepting the safety information provided by government regulatory organizations and manufacturers. In her explanation of many of the acronyms associated with chemical classifications and exposure assessments, Monona emphasized that it’s what we don’t know about chemicals that is the most concerning. For example, phrases such as “not listed as a carcinogen” and “generally recognized as safe” do not indicate that the chemical is not toxic, but may mean that it has never been tested. She also reviewed the improved chemical labeling and Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), as outlined by the new OSHA Hazard Communication Standard. Even though SDSs are better than their predecessors, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), they still are limited by lack of information. Finally, she discussed commercially manipulated and undefined “green” phrases like all natural–just because something comes from nature does not make it is safe–and biodegradable– chemicals can breakdown into compounds that can be more toxic than what you started with.
So what can we do as conservators and consumers to protect ourselves, the others we work with and the environment?

Become a conscientious and informed user; understand and learn about the products in your studio as well as the language and limitations of hazard communication (such as manufacturer provided SDSs) and local and federal regulations.
Purchase products from companies that disclose the full ingredient lists and avoid products that have proprietary formulations.
Support laws such as California’s PROP 65, which requires the state to publish a list of toxic chemicals. Businesses must notify Californians about significant amounts of chemicals in their products or that are released into the environment. By allowing anyone “acting in the public interest” to enforce the law, it takes the responsibility for policing manufacturers and their harmful materials out of the hands of legislators and bureaucrats and into the hands of the people who are being affected by toxic chemicals (you!).

In the second half of her presentation, Monona discussed air quality and fume and particle extraction. She first reviewed the definitions of gases, vapors, fumes, dusts, mists, nano-particles and smokes; their associated health hazards; and types of filters that can be used. In her discussion of fume extraction, she cautioned that window fans and air conditioners are not proper ventilation and of the limited efficacy of portable, filter-based fume extractors. Her main point was that proper extraction involves a displacement system that exhausts to the exterior in concert with bringing in uncontaminated air from a source on a wall across from the exhaust (not from an adjacent wall or window). A clear path of air flow should put the conservator’s head directly in the stream. Filter-based extractors can be selective to the vapors and/or particles sizes they collect; only clear the immediate work area; do not provide clean replacement air; and have no indication of when the filter is no longer functioning properly. She stressed that when you are designing your ventilation system, you should consult a specialist with an industrial ventilation background. While there were too many points to discuss in a few hour workshop and certainly too many to adequately cover in a blog, Monona is always willing to respond to anyone’s concerns or review your studio set-up.

The remainder of the session focused on greener business practices. Chair of the Committee on Sustainability, Betsy Haude, outlined the committee’s activities over the past year, including several AIC News articles and making their wiki into an informative and useful resource.
Objects Conservator Sarah Nunberg, followed up with an outline of the results of a Life Cycle Assessment to look at the environmental impact of museum practices. Conducted in collaboration with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, students at Northeastern University performed four case studies using a computer program with a series of user defined parameters: 1) halogen vs. LED lighting, 2) solvents used for consolidation of stone, 3) loans and transport, and 4) HVAC systems. They concluded that the LED lighting was more energy efficient. In the second case, silane in ethanol proved to have the greatest negative environmental impact over B72 in xylene and B72 in acetone and ethanol; xylene had a greater impact than acetone/ethanol primarily due to its production. In their loan assessment they compared a loan going to Tampa, Florida and a loan going to Japan. Interestingly, they discovered that accommodating for the courier had the greatest environmental impact. Finally, their study also showed that shutting down HVAC systems every night decreased the energy costs by 40%, but that the overall energy impact also depended on the source. Seeing quantified data on these various museum conditions allows for a discussion on how museums can potentially reduce their environmental impact, while still considering the elements of maintaining and promoting their collections.
The final three San Francisco-based speakers discussed the various programs that are available for greening business in California. Wendy Yeung of the California Green Development Program presented on how this government program works with local business to implement environmental protocols that are both sustainable and profitable. Anya Deepak, a Commercial Toxics Reduction Associate with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, discussed their program for artists, which is an outreach initiative to raise awareness among Bay Area artists on environmental and health issues associated with their art materials. The program is currently in the first phase of implementation and will eventually address disposal, safety and finding alternatives. Organizers discovered they were able to get remarkable participation and interest from all the studios they contacted by suggesting that the artists could have an effect on the environment by following these practices–a notably more positive response than when they tried to appeal to the artist’s personal health and safety. Finally, Anna Jaeger from Caravan Studios, a division of TechSoup Global, discussed various electronic and tech-based programs for greener business administration. Her examples focused on the idea that it is more effective to change the situation or environment than to change an individual’s behavior. Tips included using smart power strips and multi-function machines; conducting virtual meetings; and purchasing refurbished electronics since the majority of energy use goes into their production.
The seminar concluded with a group discussion of what sustainability means to us and the field of conservation. Can artifact preservation and environmental preservation coexist? How can we make the annual meeting more sustainable? Should ventilation regulations focus on optimal human performance within that space or optimal environmental impact?

42nd Annual Meeting, Textiles Session, May 30th, “Managing Sustainability of Light Sensitive Collections” by Stefan Michalski

Stefan Michalski began his presentation with a dramatic use of neckties. He held up 2 neckties – 1 with the colors very faded – and spoke about the common concern about potential color change and loss for textile objects on exhibition. He then went on to discuss the assumptions that are made about light levels, exhibition schedules, and gallery rotations. His presentation focused on the complex choices that conservators must make to protect collections from color change and loss, while also making them accessible.
Most of the presentation focused on a dilemma: should we rotate an entire collection or display half the collection and preserve the other half in storage. From which system will the most people gain the most benefit from the collection? The rotation system allows twice as many people to have access to the collection, but leads to irreversible damage to the entire collection over time. The half-and-half system allows fewer people to have access to the collection, but might be considered more sustainable since half the collection would be fully preserved.
He concluded that the practice of rotating objects on display might be considered shortsighted, and to the advantage of living generations of museum visitors. Over the next couple hundred years, this practice could lead to entire collections become equally faded. The museum visitors and scholars in the more distant future would not have any pristine textiles to examine – only faded textiles would be available. He suggested that the newest pieces in a collection might actually be the most fragile from a color damage perspective; a textile with pristine colors might be more likely to experience fading than one that has already had significant exposure and has reached a plateau of fading. His final comment to the audience was that conservators should carefully consider the value of experiencing pristine textiles, and question if we owe this experience to generations in the far future.

42nd Annual Meeting – Photographic Materials Session, May 30, "Digitization as a tool for preventive conservation and a key role for sustainability” by Jasmine Chemali

Jasmine Chemali presented us, in a very pleasing way, the outcome of an ambitious conservation project oriented to social sustainability that was developed in Lebanon, a country with huge cultural challenges, for its society has been depleted by armed conflicts and political instability and lacks of the political frame necessary for the preservation of its heritage and the spreading of knowledge.
By using historical and unique imagery from Beirut, Jasmine showed examples of the vast documentary heritage of Lebanon, thus highlighting its relevance as part of the country’s collective memory. Because of the significance and the historical and documentary nature of those collections, these specialists pitched a pilot scheme whose conservation lines of action implicated photographies, engravings, newspapers and drawings from the period between 1840 and 1950, looking forward to achieve their social recognition in short and mid-term.
Funded by The MEPPI and MOHO, for this project there were chosen photographic materials from the Bonfils section of the Fouad Debbas Collection correspondent to the pre-industrial period, and an strategic conservation plan was designed and performed accordingly. But the basic activities of cataloguing, indexing and preservation of these photographic materials were exceeded by the socially oriented strategy that included actions such as the reactivation and advertising of this cultural legacy for de Lebanese society despite of the local sociopolitical challenges.
Finally, I share with you the following strategies for social bonding of this project, which were extremely important because of their cultural influence:
-The digitization of the collection worked not only as the means for prevention and back up but also as a social strategy given the possibilities of access and the widespread advertising of the documentary material.
-The participation of the “Bonfils Family” was fundamental to activate the historical and social bonds that these images hold with the contemporary society.
-The educational activities designed for the Lebanese childhood encouraged the kids to approach their heritage and therefore assimilate it into their own history and culture.
-The use of social media for the advertising of the Collection. This month is taking place a great event related to the archives in Lebanon in which the Fouad Debbas Collection project is being presented, do not forget to visit the website: https://www.facebook.com/ModernHeritageObservatory?fref=nf.
-Broadcasting of TV spots as a mass media communication strategy, a very appropriate media strategy and of great positive impact for this project, specially in Lebanon, where a huge percentage of the population has access to this medium of communication.
All those who are interested in cultural and social sustainability by means of the conservation of the documentary heritage (graphic and photographic) must meet this project with no hesitation. For further information about this Collection I recommend clicking on: http://www.thefouaddebbascollection.com/And let’s share it!
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Jasmine Chemali, nos presentó de forma muy amena, los resultados de un ambicioso proyecto de conservación en términos de sustentabilidad social desarrollado en Líbano, un país con grandes retos culturales pues tiene una sociedad mermada por escenarios bélicos e inestabilidad política y carece de un marco político en torno la conservación preservación de su patrimonio y la difusión del conocimiento.
A través de imágenes históricas únicas de Beirut, Jasmine nos mostró ejemplos del vasto patrimonio documental de Líbano, enfatizando su relevancia como parte de la memoria colectiva del país. Por la significación y el carácter histórico documental de dichas colecciones, especialistas plantearon un proyecto piloto basado en diversas acciones de conservación involucrando fotografías, grabados, periódicos y dibujos correspondientes al periodo entre 1840 y 1950, con miras a conseguir su reconocimiento social, a corto y mediano plazo.
Con apoyo económico del MEPPI y M.OHO, se eligieron ítems fotográficos pertenecientes al Fondo Bonfil de la Colección Fouad Debbas, correspondiente con el periodo preindustrial, y se diseñó y ejecutó un plan estratégico de conservación. Se rebasaron las tareas básicas de inventario, catalogación y preservación de los materiales fotográficos, alcanzando niveles mayores de conservación social como es la reactivación y la visibilidad de este legado cultural de la sociedad de Líbano, a pesar de los retos políticos-sociales del país.
Finalmente les comparto las siguientes estrategias de vinculación social de este proyecto, que me llamaron mucho la atención por su impacto cultural:
-La digitalización de la colección sirvió no sólo como un recurso preventivo y de respaldo de la colección, sino como una estrategia social en función de las posibilidades de acceso y difusión del material documental.
-La participación de la “familia Bonfil” fue fundamental para activar los vínculos históricos y sociales de las imágenes con la sociedad actual.
-Actividades educativas con los niños de Líbano, quienes se acercaron a conocer su patrimonio documental, y por tanto, lo incorporaron a su historia y cultura.
-Redes de difusión de la colección empleando los medios de comunicación actual ofrecidos por la nueva tecnología de las redes sociales como Facebook. En este mes de junio se lleva a cabo un gran evento relacionado con archivos en Líbano donde se presenta el proyecto de la Colección Fouad Debbas, así que no olviden visitar este sitio https://www.facebook.com/ModernHeritageObservatory?fref=nf
-Spots en programas de televisión, como una estrategia de difusión masiva de la colección. Esta es una estrategia mediática adecuada y de gran impacto positivo para este proyecto, sobretodo en Líbano donde la gran mayoría de la población tiene acceso a este medio de comunicación.
Para todos aquellos que estén interesados en el tema de la sustentabilidad cultural y social a través de la conservación del patrimonio documental (gráfico y fotográfico), sin duda alguna, deben conocer este proyecto! Para obtener más información de esta colección, les recomiendo acceder al link http://www.thefouaddebbascollection.com/. Compartámoslo!.

42nd Annual Meeting – Collection Care Session, May 29, “The Ossabaw Island Workshops – Preventive Conservation Training in a Real Life Setting” by David Bayne

Since 2010, there have been four Preventive Conservation workshops on Ossabaw Island, three of which have been generously funded by FAIC. These workshops have provided a unique training experience for both emerging conservation professionals and pre-program students.
Background and History of the Island
Ossabaw Island is a 26,000-acre remote barrier island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. It has five residents, and may only be accessed by private boat. It is mostly wilderness, but there are some very interesting historic buildings, including some slave cabins of tabby construction (a technique using oyster shells, sand, and water as the mortar ingredients), the Club House (c. 1885) – where lectures take place and participants are housed, and the Torrey-West House or the “Main House” – where the actual work is carried out.
Dr. and Mrs. Torrey bought the island in 1924 and had a house built there to be their family’s winter home to escape the harsh winters of their native Michigan. The house was completed in 1926, and the Torreys spent four months (January – April) there each year afterward. The current owner of the house is Mrs. Eleanor “Sandy” Torrey West, who is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Torrey and is currently 101 years old.
In 1961, Mrs. West and her husband started an artist colony, where writers, artists, and composers could come stay in the Wests’ home and be inspired by the island’s natural beauty and tranquility. In the 1970s, this evolved into the Genesis Project, where college students and less-established artists came to work on various projects. The Genesis participants were more self-sufficient and built settlements, cooking/dining/washing facilities, and a pottery kiln at an area of the island called “Middle Place.”
With her money running out, Mrs. West decided to sell the island to the state of Georgia in 1978, but she had several stipulations. She wanted the island to remain wild and continue to be a place of inspiration, creativity, and discovery, so the state was not allowed to build a causeway or start a ferry service to the island. They also had to continue encouraging arts and sciences projects/research and allow her to continue living in her house on the island until her death.
The Workshop
The original goals of the workshop were to use the Main House to:
1. Train housekeepers working in historic houses.
2. Professionalize preventive conservation.
3. Expose professional and emerging conservators to a nascent historic house and provide an opportunity for them to take part in its institutionalization.

The living room in the Main House on Ossabaw Island, GA.

The workshop provides a unique opportunity for participants to learn about preventive conservation and housekeeping practices for a historic house. The things that make this program so unique are that the house…

is still a home in which the current owner is a 101-year-old woman who resides there full-time.
is on a remote island, and supplies must be brought out by chartered boat from the mainland.
suffers from MANY problems, such as:
- The environment of the island (heat, humidity, salty ocean air, etc.)
  - Mold and mildew
  - Rotting wood
  - Rusting metal
- Pests
  - Extensive damage to house, furniture, pillows/cushions, carpets/rugs, books, taxidermy, etc by termites, carpet beetles, silverfish, rodents, and other pests.
- General neglect
  - As Mrs. West became older, she could not take care of the house by herself, and she could not afford to pay for the amount of repairs and housekeeping that the house required.
- Arsenic
  - Exotic game heads (a lioness, black rhino, water buffalo, and a few kinds of antelope) have always been a major component of the living room décor, even appearing in the original architect drawings for the house. These may have been shot by Dr. Torrey himself on a safari hunting trip to Africa. All of them were treated with an arsenic-based pesticide. Testing of the heads found that some had arsenic content that was off the charts (>160 ppb).

Though current housekeepers in historic houses were the original target audience, most of the people who have completed the workshop have been pre-program conservation students. A house with such a rich and fascinating history, but so many conservation issues, provides a lot of opportunities for pre-programmers to learn and gain hands-on experience. That is probably the workshop’s greatest achievement: exposing potential conservation students to collections care and preventive conservation.
I was lucky enough to have been one of the participants in the 2013 season. It was not glamorous. We worked hard and got dirty, crawling around on the floors and under cobwebbed furniture, vacuuming, dusting, moving heavy wooden furniture, and examining sticky traps that had caught all sorts of disgusting, multi-legged creatures. Through all of this, we got exposure to integrated pest management (IPM) and the care of furniture, paintings, textiles, books, and works of art on paper. It could be gross, but it was fun and exciting, too. As David said in his presentation, “Everything is an adventure on Ossabaw.”
Another major achievement of the workshop has been in helping emerging conservation professionals by providing third-year students or recent graduates the opportunity to be instructors. In 2013, that included two former WUDPAC students, Stephanie Hulman (paintings) and Emily Schuetz Stryker (textiles). These young professionals play an essential role because they have knowledge of the most recent techniques and advancements in the field and are better able to answer pre-program students’ questions about portfolios and conservation school.

2013 Team - Ossabaw Island Preventive Conservation Workshop — 2013 Team – Ossabaw Island Preventive Conservation Workshop

Unfortunately, Emily Schuetz Stryker died suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this year. She was a great instructor, a wonderful person, and the most talented knitter that I have ever met. The Ossabaw workshop would not have been the same without her sense of humor and her wonderful laugh.
RIP Emily Schuetz Stryker (1987 – 2014)

42nd Annual Meeting – General Session: Engaging Communities in Collection Care – Track B, May 30, "Heritage versus ‘Business of the House’: Conservation and Collection Care at the Houses of Parliament, UK” by Caroline Babington and Lara Artemis.

In this talk, presented during Thursday’s general session, Lara Artemis, the Collection Care Manager for the Parliamentary Archives at the Houses of Parliament, UK, discusses the delicate balance between conservation needs and the ‘Business of the House’ at the Houses of Parliament, in London. She discusses the innate conflict between the historical role of the Parliamentary Estates buildings and collections, and their function as the seat of government in the United Kingdom (ie. The Business of the House), which takes priority.
Throughout the presentation, Lara walks the audience through the methods by which the Conservation and Collection Care teams were able to greatly increase their presence in the decision making processes at the Houses of Parliament over the last five years. They were able to achieve this through the active engagement of internal and external stakeholders, by addressing the needs of government (quite literally in this case), by maintaining access to the buildings, collections and archives, and by working and communicating closely with the community.
Ever conscious of her audience, Lara begins her talk by first explaining what is meant by the ‘Houses of Parliament’ and ‘Business of the House’, as they differ significantly in form and function from the American system of government. In this instance, the Houses of Parliament are situated in the Palace of Westminster, and are made up of the House of Commons and the House of the Lords. The ‘Business of the House’, as she describes it, includes but is not limited to the creation of Acts of Parliament, and all other activities pertaining to the governance of the United Kingdom.

The Palace of Westminster has seen many iterations since its original construction as the primary London residence of the Kings of England in the eleventh century. Destroyed by fire in 1512 and again in 1834, the current form is heavily rebuilt with the only structure having survived the fires being Westminster Hall, built in 1097 by William Rufus. The Palace of Westminster has served as the home of Parliament since the thirteenth century.
Today, the Palace is the centre of political life in the United Kingdom, it is an emblem of parliamentary democracy as well as one of the most popular tourist attractions in London. The Palace has been UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and contains historic furnishings, paintings, sculptures and books, as well as original Acts of Parliament and other historic archives (including an original letter from the United States to the United Kingdom declaring their independence!). More information on the collections housed at the Palace of Westminster, including high resolution images can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/about/art-in-parliament/ .
One of the main challenges for conservators working around Parliamentary business is timing, as the conservation team can often only do their work in situ during recess breaks. For example, the conservation of House of Lords Chamber benches, which have not seen conservation treatment since the 1950s, must happen around fixed dates, such as the State Opening of Parliament, so as to minimise the impact of conservation work on the operation of the Chamber itself. Here, efficient and effective communication with stakeholders is critical to ensure that all priorities are being addressed in terms of the needs and costs associated with conservation, as well as any potential disruptions to political business.

Another challenge faced by the conservation team is that of visitor/employee damage. Beyond the more than 7000 people required to pass Acts of Parliament, which include Lords, Members of Parliament, and their associated staff, hundreds of thousands of tourists pass through the halls of Westminster Palace every year. Conservators must work to simultaneously preserve the buildings and their associated materials and collections, while maintaining accessibility to these same things.
Despite the priority given to the ‘Business of the House’, Lara is clear that Parliament has always believed in the importance of heritage preservation – the issue has been in reconciling Parliamentary priorities with conservation priorities. In order to place preservation needs higher on the Parliamentary agenda, the Collections Care team has made use of strategic communications and public engagement activities to pique the interests of both internal and external stakeholders. It was Lara herself, upon discovering that decisions were being made regarding heritage access without the presence of a conservator, who invited herself and her team to various events and facilities meetings to remind people of the preservation risks associated with enabling access to historic buildings and collections and giving a voice to conservators working at the Houses of Parliament. Illustrating their success in communicating preservation needs was the formation of the Heritage strategy and Heritage incident management groups in 2013. Further, the conservation programs are, today, fully endorsed by the House of Lords, as well as the Commons Administration and Works Committee.
Communities and other external stakeholders have been and continue to be engaged by means of education programs, collaboration and communication. Their education programs have sought to engage students through school placements and activities with children. The conservation team has also made use of social media to interact with the public and generate interest. The conservation of the cast iron roof structure is one such project that the public can follow via social media.
Though Lara was unable to give her talk in its entirety due to time constraints, she did finish with some hints and tips for conservators working in similar environments. For Lara and her team, success has been predicated upon a foundation of solid communication and outreach mixed with compromise. She urges conservators to make their voices heard, to ‘speak out’, as she says. By pointing out the benefits in both the long term and the short term, they are able to ensure that the conservation and collection care message is heard.

42nd Annual Meeting – Angels Project, June 1, California Historical Society

This year’s Angels Project took place at the California Historical Society (CHS), a non-profit organization founded in 1871 to celebrate California’s rich history. Textile conservator Meg Geiss-Mooney and photograph conservator Gawain Weaver led the group of about 25 enthusiastic volunteers and had our project and supplies ready to go early Sunday morning.
Prior to the AIC meeting, Gawain had surveyed the CHS collection for approximately 200 photograph albums that were in need of treatment and/or re-housing. We divided up into teams based on specialty and skill set, and went to work to assess, surface clean, stabilize, and box each album. The library was organized into stations to help with workflow and I joined the group that was examining each album to identify the photographic processes and provide recommendations for treatment. Not only was this a great way for me to put my photo conservation skills to the test, but as a native Californian, it was a pleasure to look through these beautiful albums featuring historic images of local monuments and people. Using a pre-made single page survey form, we denoted all necessary identification and condition information to help with the following treatment steps and for later catalogers at CHS.
Station two began treatment, and was set up to vacuum, brush, and clean with eraser crumbs the dirtiest album covers and pages. A special table of volunteers was armed with the proper PPE to tackle any possible mold. Next, a group of expert conservators were completing treatment steps such as re-attaching loose photographs, mending torn pages, and tape removal, as needed on a case-by-case basis. Finally, the albums were whisked away to be housed in new archival-quality boxes that were labeled and placed on a cart to return to storage.
At the end of the day, all albums were assessed and boxed, and many received significant treatment steps that will no doubt prolong the life of these valuable objects. For those albums that did not receive treatment, they can be flagged by priority and sent out to a private conservator in the future. As with Angels Projects that I’ve participated in in the past, I appreciated the opportunity to meet, learn from, and work with many new conservation professionals, and I was especially happy that this project allowed me to directly benefit the photographic collection through treatment and re-housing.
Many thanks to Meg, Gawain, Ruth Seyler, and the rest of the AIC staff for organizing this year’s project, and to the CHS staff for generously providing the volunteers with ample working space and supplies, a delicious lunch, and a bonus free annual membership to the Society!
For more images from this and previous Angels Projects, please visit the AIC Angels Projects Flickr page.

42nd Annual Meeting – Collections Care + HVAC Session, May 31, "The Road to Sustainable Environmental Management of Storage Conditions at the National Archives by Kostas Ntanos"

The National Archives is the official government archives of the UK and Wales. The Archives has two buildings: Q1, a building built in 1978 with three main repositories in three floors, and Q2, a newer building built in 1996 with twelve repositories over four floors.
Ntanos started by looking into records from 1973-75 to see the decision-making of how the Q1 building was designed. During this time from 1973-75, the staff discussed the requirements of environmental control and determined that temperature was more important than relative humidity and felt that if you kept temperature at mid-range, the RH would be controlled, too! Seven to eight years of mold growth prompted investigation into this building. Intensive climate-mapping was done using data loggers to determine the differences in the environment, and they saw a big difference between the center of the room (50-55%) and the ends of the room (70%).
Ntanos also used environmental assessment permanence maps to demonstrate how the environment changes through the year (he gave a poster at this AIC meeting on the mapping of material types). Once they had collected 1-2 years of information, they started making changes.
They used Energy Plus Software and put in as much information as possible about the environment and the building. They also used HAMT (Humidity and Moisture Transfer) and saw a difference with and without HAMT because of the large collection of hygroscopic material. The aim of the model was to examine options in maintaining a sustainable preservation environment for the collection. They were able to reduce energy consumption in line with sustainability targets, build resilience in light of climate change predictions, and inform ongoing capital investment. Powering down the HVAC over the weekend saved up 22% without affecting the preservation environment.

42nd Annual Meeting – Book and Paper, May 31, Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group

The theme of this year’s Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group was “Options for Sustainable Practice in Conservation”, which tasked speakers to examine how conservators could lessen the carbon footprint of conservation work. Speakers included Brian Baird, from Bridgeport National Bindery, Danielle Creech of ECS Conservation, Julie Newton from Emory University, and Marieka Kaye of the University of Michigan Libraries. The speaker line-up was notably diverse, in that it included speakers from commercial binderies as well as those from labs within academic libraries.

Brian Baird had some good points about why conservators and labs should focus more on reducing waste, rather than just relying on recycling, to lessen their carbon footprint. For instance, recycling some items, such as ink cartridges, doesn’t do much good – the cartridges are shipped to China, where they remove the last few drops of ink, and the plastic cartridges still end up in the landfills. His ultimate take-away lesson was that no recycling program can be as efficient or cost-effective as simply reducing consumption of materials.

Pile of books that can't be recycled for high-end paper waste, because they have print on them. — Slide from Brian Baird’s talk.

Danielle Creech spoke about the various iterations of ECS Conservation’s recycling program. Over the years, they’ve recycled everything from linotype and monotype waste, old equipment, old book covers, shrink-wrap packaging, and paper dust. They built a relationship with their County Solid Waste Management District, who helped partner them with a business-to-business recycling business called Quincy Recycling. With each iteration of their recycling program, ECS had to come up with creative solutions to reduce consumption as well as find ways to recycle various types of materials. Danielle made a very important point that recycling is NOT free, as it requires time and labor to train employees in the proper recycling procedures. She also mentioned that they have noticed some “recycling fatigue”, as employees constantly have to remember which of the 17 recycling barrels should be used for different kinds of waste.

Horse lying down in pile of paper dust bedding — Slide from Danielle Creech’s talk, showing a horse enjoying its new bed of paper dust, courtesy of her bindery’s recycling program.

Marieka Kaye outlined how both the library and her lab play a large part in promoting sustainability in the overall University of Michigan community, via the Library Green Team program. This program encompasses more than just recycling bins, by providing avenues for both staff and students to creatively reduce consumption as well as reuse materials within the library. For instance, their library staff intranet has a Craigslist-style office furniture swap listing, and the library sells reusable water bottles which can be used with the recently-installed water-bottle refill stations. In the conservation lab, they replaced the incandescent bulbs in the overhead lights with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

Julie Newton started her talk off with the statement that “a box of lab scraps is a hundred tiny art projects waiting to happen”, which will resonate with anyone who loves to collage or make other types of paper-based art. Through her vigorous efforts, Julie was able to extend the life of many materials before they went into the recycling bins. She noted that while conservators are usually very frugal with their materials, such as Japanese tissue, they tend to be less frugal with more plebian materials such as box-making board or paper towels. She encouraged her staff to re-use scraps in creative ways, either within the lab or outside of it. She also acknowledged that you do have to ask yourself on occasion if the effort and time it takes to accumulate and repurpose scrap is worth it, versus just getting new materials. Making scrap useful is again, not a “free” activity, as it requires staff time to sort and organize it in a useful way.

Piece of Japanese tissue torn into smaller and smaller pieces — Slide from Julie Newton’s presentation, showing how conservators can find uses for even the tiniest scraps of Japanese tissue.

I’ve made a list of the some of my favorite creative uses for scraps and “waste” that were presented by these speakers:

Several thousand pounds of paper dust were repurposed as horse bedding when it was donated to an Amish farm by ECS.
Excess rubber bands were donated by ECS to a teacher in Indiana, who is trying to break the record for the largest continuous rubber band ball.
Some materials can be composted, such as paper towels, old paste, used tea bags.
Scraps of board and paper can be donated to schools or local art programs and clubs.

All in all, the speakers acknowledged that recycling and reducing consumption requires some effort and staff time, but in the end it can make a big difference by improving the environment and providing a positive impact on our society. In addition, contributing to sustainability efforts helps strengthen our relationship with our surrounding community, by forging partnerships with local businesses and environmental groups.
What creative solutions for repurposing “waste” or reducing material consumption has YOUR lab undertaken? Share them in the comments!

42nd Annual Meeting- General Session, May 30, "Using Webinars to Tackle Conservation Misinformation in Ontario's Community Museums" by Fiona Graham

“Conservation is an elusive practice just outside of budgetary reality.” Fiona Graham, a conservation consultant in Kingston, Ontario, received this comment in a survey filled out by a small museum in Ontario, and it made her take notice. Museums believing that conservation only equates to (costly) treatment leaves no room for implementing best practices, taking vital preventive measures, and leads to a general misunderstanding of the basic principles of preservation. Graham set out to change the perceptions of these museums and chose webinars as her format.
Who: Ontario’s Community Museums–roughly 300 institutions that range in size but are not art galleries, private collections, or national museums. Only 14 have in-house conservators (in one case, 9 museums share one conservator!). The collection care for the remaining 286 falls into the hands of non-conservators.
Why: 185 of those Ontario Community Museums receive operating grants from the Ministry’s Museum Unit to survive economically. In order to receive these grants, the museums must meet regulatory requirements, including a conservation standard. To assess the state of conservation and preservation in the museums, a questionnaire was distributed to the museums, and Graham and her team discovered some startling misunderstandings. For example, many respondents believed that light damage was caused only by UV, that pesticides are still needed, and that cold temperatures are always bad for collections. (Since they are in colder climates, it’s especially disconcerting to think of the expenses paid to raise temperatures in these museums.)
What was done: To debunk misunderstandings at as many of the museums as possible, the Ministry funded two 1.5 hour long webinars. The webinar format was chosen because it can reach a targeted audience, has wide accessibility and the ability to be interactive, is inexpensive to produce, and has been successful through the Ontario Museums Association (an organization that provides training in museum work). After institutions answered preliminary questions on their registration forms, webinars were conducted as powerpoint presentations narrated live by a conservator using the icohere platform. The first webinar, Conservation 2.0, was a “good practice” refresher course meant for non-conservators, while the second, Climate Control: what do you really need?, focused on misinformation hot spots. Participants used their own computers and sent questions to a moderator who passed them to the conservator to answer. The Ontario Museum Association posted the slide deck and audio to their website after the webinars ended.
More details? The prep questions: Define what conservation means in the context of your museums? What question about conservation would you like answered in this webinar? What do you think relative humidity and temp levels should be in your museum’s collection areas? Do you monitor RH and/or T; do you actively control RH? (The webinars included a disclaimer that “this webinar is not a substitute for proper training.”)
Results: The webinars were open to all, not just the Ministry-funded institutions, and 55 organizations participated during the live broadcasts. The prep questions from the registration forms informed the content of the webinars. There was positive feedback overall, with requests for more programs. The negative feedback regarded the amount of detailed information on conservation. Graham recommends being very clear on expectations. The webinar team will be able to gauge the long-term results of the refresher courses during the next audit in 2018.
(Author’s comments: This talk was part of the general session on Engaging Communities in Collections Care. The U.S. Heritage Preservation organization also offers webinars to help smaller institutions with collections care. Their webinars are part of their Connecting to Collections (C2C) online community. Past programs are available in their archives.)