Institutional loans of paper artifacts

As at other institutions, we at the Carnegie Museum of
Art receive  requests for loan of materials from our
collections. Having in the last several years greatly increased
our collection of paper-based holdings, we are finding that we
need to update our loan criteria for these materials. We'd like
to use this forum to solicit opinions from those who are in
charge of reviewing loan requests for works on paper, including
but not limited to both fine art and architectural drawings.

Aside from ascertaining whether or not an object is safe for travel
and stipulating amount and length of exposure to light, what other
guidelines do you have for loaning works on paper? Do you require
that objects be matted and framed before being considered for loan,
or do you occasionally permit the borrower to provide matting and/or
framing?  Do you require objects to be over-matted for travel or do
you permit "floated" objects to travel?  Do you specify sealed
packages inside frames? Do you require a minimum lead- time to
review a loan request, after which loan requests are automatically
declined? Do you require all paper loans to have wooden crates or do
you sometimes allow "soft-packing," and if so, under what
circumstances?  What other packing standards do you adhere to? What
other concerns do you have regarding the loan of paper based
materials?

Because there seems to be in general a paucity of published
materials re: the loan and shipment of works on paper and it is not
(yet) an area covered by the Paper Conservation Catalog, I wonder if
anyone would be interested in meeting informally at the upcoming AIC
meeting in Norfolk to discuss these matters further. Thank you in
advance for any comments or suggestions.

Wendy Bennett
Paper Conservator
4400 Forbes Ave.
Carnegie Museum of  Art
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:69
                   Distributed: Friday, April 5, 1996
                        Message Id: cdl-9-69-008
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