{"id":929,"date":"2011-06-10T14:13:40","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T14:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=929"},"modified":"2011-06-10T14:13:40","modified_gmt":"2011-06-10T14:13:40","slug":"39th-annual-meeting-june-1-conservation-in-the-twenty-first-century-will-a-twentieth-century-code-of-ethics-suffice-by-barbara-applebaum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2011\/06\/10\/39th-annual-meeting-june-1-conservation-in-the-twenty-first-century-will-a-twentieth-century-code-of-ethics-suffice-by-barbara-applebaum\/","title":{"rendered":"39th Annual Meeting \u2013 General Session, June 1, \u201cConservation in the Twenty-First Century: Will a Twentieth Century Code of Ethics Suffice?” By Barbara Applebaum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Barbara Applebaum has always been known as a thinker who asks intriguing questions.\u00a0 She is the author of the book \u201cConservation Treatment Methodology<\/a>\u201d published in 2007.\u00a0 She serves up some of the same complex questions in the opening presentation of the 39th<\/sup> annual AIC meeting.\u00a0 Applebaum demands that we think about the hard questions. \u00a0In this presentation, she examines the AIC code of ethics and guiding documents that define our profession both internally and to the outside world.<\/p>\n

The AIC documents are made up of three levels of guidance.\u00a0 The AIC Code of Ethics<\/a> is aspirational in nature.\u00a0 The guidelines for practice offer us the specifications of expected practice. The commentaries of the guidelines serve as section by section discussions on the minimum and optimum best practices. It is easiest to make changes to the commentaries.\u00a0 For the most part they define things that we all learned growing up.\u00a0 They guard against things like lying, cheating, and stealing.\u00a0 Applebaum suggests that conservation professionals should read through the documents on a regular schedule.<\/p>\n

Applebaum feels that the AIC guiding documents are as valid today as when they were first drafted.\u00a0 She likens them to the \u201cten commandments,\u201d and feels that they regulate the conservation practice accordingly.\u00a0 Then she moves on to some of the most interesting questions of the presentation.\u00a0 Does the detail focused nature of work with cultural heritage attract the personality that nitpicks and over analyzes the tasks at hand?\u00a0 Are we a people searching for imperfections in the AIC Code?\u00a0 Have we spent a decade looking inward at the issue of certification to the detriment of the profession?<\/p>\n

We must fight the tide of negativity and take our place the outside world, Applebaum reminds us.\u00a0 We must realistically evaluate all that is going on around us and understand the needs of the museum, private collectors and the public.\u00a0 While the AIC guiding documents were drafted at a time when the profession was mostly institutionally focused, we increasingly work in private practice.\u00a0 Our colleagues are diverse, working on heritage from ethnographic objects, architecture, archives and libraries among others in addition to works of art.<\/p>\n

We must recognize that our work sometimes moves from the care of cultural property belonging to the whole human race to the intimate objects and personal property that never rises to the level of cultural heritage.\u00a0 These items are things like a child\u2019s drawing, a clay ashtray, etc. The usefulness of the AIC code of ethics on personal items is small.\u00a0 Still, thorough professional training is required to practice conservation in an ethical manner on all objects.<\/p>\n

Applebaum reminds us that we must educate others on the good we can do for people, with an emphasis on the added value we provide.\u00a0 In our work, we must remember the conservation is as much about the people we help as it is about the chemistry and material of the object.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Applebaum has always been known as a thinker who asks intriguing questions.\u00a0 She is the author of the book \u201cConservation Treatment Methodology\u201d published in 2007.\u00a0 She serves up some of the same complex questions in the opening presentation of the 39th annual AIC meeting.\u00a0 Applebaum demands that we think about the hard questions. \u00a0In … Continue reading “39th Annual Meeting \u2013 General Session, June 1, \u201cConservation in the Twenty-First Century: Will a Twentieth Century Code of Ethics Suffice?” By Barbara Applebaum”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[64,70,246,283],"class_list":["post-929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annual-meeting","category-general-sessions","tag-aic-guiding-documents","tag-aics-39th-annual-meeting","tag-code-of-ethics","tag-conservation-ethics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}