Exhibition practices and guidelines

Below are guidelines we found useful at Johns Hopkins University, as
they relate to your questions:

    1.  Computer diagrams.  Sounds feasible to me.  We use graph paper.
        The Curator/Librarian illustrates the layout on the graph
        paper--showing where each object/book goes.  The exhibit
        installer follows the graph paper illustrations to position each
        exhibit piece.

    2.  People involved.  Depending on the size of the exhibit, usually
        a librarian/curator and the installer.  Sometimes other
        Preservation and Special Collections staff are call upon to
        assist in installing.  The "Exhibit Designer" is a Special
        Collections (SC) librarian.  Preservation and SC are responsible
        exhibits.  We have an Exhibits Planning committee.

    3.  Ideally, conservation considerations are dealt with six months
        prior to installation.  The items are examined and targeted for
        treatment.  Upon approval the item is treated.  All of this is
        done by the conservator.

    4.  The Library of Congress (Paper Lab Unit) has a good policy for
        handling light levels and light control.

    5.  We use to make all supports and cradles.  This became very
        expensive since each support/cradle was made to fit the opening
        of a particular book and not for others.  After an exhibit the
        cradles/support were usually discarded.  Now we use
        cradles/supports that commercially made: plexi-glass adjustable
        cradles and plexi-supports.  Sometimes we make cradles,
        in-house.  They are made by exhibit installer; who is a book
        conservator.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:29
                 Distributed: Saturday, October 2, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-7-29-004
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