NW Conservators Group

NW Conservator's group:

The group has been running since Dec 2006 we have been having
meetings every other month with members taking it in turns to host
the meetings. We usually have a bit of a tour round wherever the
meeting is being held and an introduction from the conservators at
the site about the work they are doing. We have then been discussing
running themes such as emergency planning, digital preservation and
conservation documentation. The group is also a good forum to
discuss current practical conservation problems any of us are
having.

The group is very informal and free to join, all conservators are
welcome.

The group is run by

    Pierrette Squires
    Conservator, Bolton Museum
    +44 1204 332196
    pierrette.squires [at] bolton__gov__uk

Our next NW Conservators' Group meeting will be held here at Bolton
Museum at 2pm on 15 November 2007. Irit Narkiss, Conservator at
Manchester Museum is going to feedback from the British Museums'
Conservation Ethics for the 21st century Seminar, which was held in
June. We are also still discussing conservation documentation and
will be looking at some condition report and treatment record forms
so please bring along copies of your documentation if you wish.

As usual all conservators and conservation students are welcome,
please could you let me know by 1 November 2007 if you are planning
to attend, I will then email you an agenda.

Minutes from last meeting 3 Sep 2007 held at Manchester Museum:

    *   KeEmu presentation: (Most of the presentation was a
        practical tour through the KeEmu system so I have not
        written a lot of notes).

        Malcolm Chapman (Head of Collections Management at
        Manchester Museum) gave a presentation on the system used at
        Manchester museum for conservation documentation. At
        Manchester it is the curators responsibility to ensure all
        objects are on the database before they arrive in
        conservation, this ensures they have a record to which the
        conservation details can be added. Every object goes through
        conservation prior to going out on loan. Basically some
        conservation details are recorded directly onto each object
        record within the database and more detailed conservation
        reports can be attached as Word and Excel documents or
        Crystal Reports. KeEmu can also be used to track pest
        management records.

    *   We also discussed conservation imaging. Most of the
        conservators present mainly use digital images now, though
        there is concern over the longevity of CD's. Nic Rayner from
        GMCRO said that CD's are generally more stable as a format
        then DVD's and that writing on / attaching a label
        significantly reduces the life of the disk. CD's have quite
        a short life and should be backed up every year or so.

Pierrette Squires
Pierrette Squires MA, MSc.
Conservator
Bolton Museum and Archives
Le Mans Cres.
Bolton BL1 1SE
UK
+44 1204 332196


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:25
                 Distributed: Saturday, October 6, 2007
                       Message Id: cdl-21-25-001
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