Couriers

The following appeared on museum-l

    >I have been asked by our associate director about whether or not
    >we should ask for a courier for a painting we are considering
    >loaning. Our museum has never done this in the past so we don't
    >have a precedent set for this process. Does someone have a set of
    >guidelines that they use to determine if a courier is necessary?
    >I know that there have been sessions at AAM about couriering
    >(?). I would appreciate some help on this. Thank you.

    >Gail Kana Anderson
    >Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma

The Spring 1997 issue of "Registrars' Quarterly" (a publication of
the registrar's committee - western region) has several excellent
articles on couriering. Try to get a copy of the entire journal. The
article by Cordelia Rose, titled 'Couriering Experiences and Tips'
says the following about whether or not one should use a courier:

   "An object requires a courier if it is fragile, irreplaceable,
    politically or culturally sensitive, of extreme artistic,
    historical or scientific worth....A courier is required if the
    journey is complicated with many changes of transport."

This is abbreviated, for sure, but this issue has a lot of really
practical advice on *how* to be a courier.  Note that Ms. Rose has
written a book titled "Courierspeak:  A Phrase Book for Couriers of
Museum Objects" (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993), which you may
find interesting.

The RC-AAM (The Registrar's Committee of the American Association of
Museums) has a publication titled "A Code of Practice for Couriering
Museum Objects." You might try to contact RC-AAM through Janice
Klein at the Field Museum in Chicago, tel. 312-922-9410.

I hope this helps.  If you have problems obtaining copy of
Registrars' Quarterly give a call and I'll see if I can help.  Good
luck!

Karen E.K. Brown
Field Service Representative
Northeast Document Conservation Center
100 Brickstone Square
Andover, MA  01810-1494
508-470-1010
Fax 508-475-6021

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:20
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 28, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-20-009
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