Batteries in objects

Barry Knight <barry.knight [at] bl__uk> writes

>... As
>a rule, we remove the batteries if it easy to do so, but we wonder
>whether it is ethical and justifiable to partially dismantle a toy
>or to cut into a cuddly animal, for example, in order to remove a
>battery.  What is the policy of other libraries or museums which
>collect this kind of artefact?

It is not a very similar type of material but when considering the
care of industrial collections with Ceri Thompson at the Council of
Museums in Wales, we concluded that it was always necessary to
remove batteries and the challenge was only about how to do so. In
the case of lamps it was about having the right tools. We wrote
about it in 2003 in the first edition of the Care of Collections
Forum news.

Jane Henderson
Professional Tutor
SHARE
Cardiff University
Humanities Building
Colum Road
Cardiff CF10 3EU
+44 29 2087 5629


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:2
                  Distributed: Thursday, June 9, 2011
                        Message Id: cdl-25-2-001
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