Online course on environment

MS211: Preservation Environments
Instructor: Ernest A. Conrad
May 6 - June 7, 2013
Location: Online at www.museumclasses.org

Description: The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling.  The
powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust under the foam
padding.  Objects in fur storage are covered in mold.  It is raining
in the exhibit hall.  This is the damage that occurs to museum
buildings or collection when staff do not understand preservation
environments.  Preservation Environments is essential knowledge for
any collecting institution.  Everyone should understand how humidity
and temperature are controlled by a building and its mechanical
system.  For museum staff considering a new building--and any
institution planning to expand or rebuild an existing
one--Preservation Environments provide important information for
calculating whether the proposed improvements will actually improve
the environmental control of your protective enclosure.
Participants learn the advantages and disadvantages of numerous
methods of temperature and humidity control.  Preservation
Environments does not try to turn museum professionals into
engineers.  Rather, it arms them with the knowledge they need to
work with engineers and maintenance professionals.  And helps
explain why damaged occurred and how to keep it from happening
again.

Logistics: Participants in Preservation Environments work at their
own pace through six sections and interact through online chats.
Instructor Ernest Conrad is available at scheduled times for email
support.  Preservation Environments includes online literature,
slide lectures and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog.  The course
is limited to 20 participants.

Preservation Environments runs four weeks.  To reserve a spot inearn
more about the course, go to
<URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html> If you have trouble
please contact Helen Alten at helen<-at->collectioncare<.>org

The Instructor:

    Ernest A. Conrad's greatest contribution to the preservation
    field was the development of environmental guidelines for
    engineers who work on museums, libraries and archives.  For over
    20 years, Mr. Conrad has focused on environmental issues.  He is
    president of Conrad Engineers and Past Founder of Landmark
    Facilities Group, Inc., an engineering firm specializing in
    environmental systems for museums, libraries, archives and
    historic facilities.  A licensed mechanical engineer in several
    states, Mr. Conrad holds a bachelor's degree in civil
    engineering and a master's in environmental engineering from
    Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  For more
    information visit his web site Landmark Facilities Group, Inc.

    The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
    Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) publishes standards in
    the areas of HVAC and refrigeration.  Mr. Conrad recently
    co-authored the ASHRAE Applications Handbook "Chapter 20:
    Museums, Libraries and Archives." For the first time, there are
    guidelines specific to our needs in the engineering literature.
    Mr. Conrad has studied environments and designed special climate
    control systems throughout the United States for clients as
    well-known as the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress,
    The Frick Collection, Getty Conservation Institute, The Pierpont
    Morgan Library, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and
    National Park Service.  He has a special interest in house
    museums and how climate affects structures and collections
    housed within those structures.

Helen Alten
Director
Northern States Conservation Center


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:44
                   Distributed: Sunday, April 7, 2013
                       Message Id: cdl-26-44-014
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