Oak tree in exhibit

Tanja Reed <tanja.reed [at] aust-agder__museum__no> writes

>I am trying to gather good arguments to use in a discussion
>regarding oak in exhibitions. The curator at my museum would very
>much like to put a whole oak tree into an exhibit and is convinced
>that the information I give him regarding use of oak in showcases,
>etc. can not be transferred to this type of use of oak. He might be
>right, but I would like to be sure.

With regard to Tanja Reed's request for information about the use of
a "whole oak tree" in an exhibit--quite aside from whatever
compounds might be offgassed by a huge dying plant in your exhibit,
has your director given any though to the effect of whatever
organisms will still be living in this tree? I would be willing to
bet that many of them are critters that live in oak trees because
they eat wood, and putting them in an exhibit with wooden artifacts
would be nothing short of criminal. In addition, since your gallery
is open to the rest of the facility, you would be endangering
everything else in there as well. Please consult with a professional
about whether the tree can be processed in such a way as to render
it harmless, or have your own or an outside fabricator make you a
fake, and harmless, tree.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:49
                  Distributed: Friday, January 9, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-49-004
                                  ***