Preventative maintenance plans

Kristen Zimmerman <kzimmerman [at] cummer__org> writes

>I have been charged with creating a preventative maintenance plan
>for our permanent collection galleries as well as for outdoor
>sculptures and garden ornaments.  I am hoping to include items such
>as gallery cleaning and condition checking; inventorying and
>condition checks of garden sculpture and ornaments; and the
>frequency and procedure with which these should be completed amongst
>any other suggestions.   If anyone has an example that you wouldn't
>mind sharing, I would greatly appreciate it.

The production of a comprehensive preventive maintenance plan is a
very important step and not easily adapted from a plan from another
institution. Though there will be a lot in common from one
institution to another many factors have to be considered, including
your environment, the range and general condition of your
collections, the condition of your building, and the resources at
your disposal. Your plan needs to be tailored to your circumstances
and should be reviewed and updated periodically. It also needs to be
coordinated with your colleagues in building maintenance, security
and with management and it is, in my experience, always better to do
this at the beginning of the process rather than later. I would also
be looking to create a baseline condition report for the entire
collection with individual recommendations for maintenance if this
hasn't already been done.

I suggest it would be best to go to the AIC website and using their
free referral service, find qualified conservators with suitable
experience and expertise to discuss their coming to consult with you
to create a suitable plan specifically for your situation. This will
give you a better result than your trying to adapt an existing plan
from another institution.

Thomas Dixon
Melbourne Australia


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:8
                   Distributed: Monday, July 16, 2012
                        Message Id: cdl-26-8-003
                                  ***