Conservation workflows for medium rare library materials

Jennifer Hain Teper <jhain<-at->illinois<.>edu>

>I would be interested in hearing from colleagues in library
>conservation labs who have a workflow or documentation protocol for
>"medium rare" collection materials, i.e. materials that are more
>special than your average general collections/circulating book, but
>not necessarily warranting full-fledged special collections
>conservation treatment.

I have performed several conditions assessments at several
institutions in my career.  What I have gathered in the process is:
there are no international standards on condition surveys.  A survey
gathers the information that you want to gather at the time, and the
information can vary vastly from institution to institution and
situation to situation.

The main core of the survey is a condition rating system, and it is
generally recommended that the rating system be numerical (e.g.
condition 1, 2, 3...), rather than using words (e.g. excellent,
good, fair, poor,...) because words mean different things to
different people.  E.g. what a curator means by "excellent" for an
object usually means that it has excellent provenance, is a good
example of its type, is complete, perhaps relatively rare and
valuable, etc, whereas a conservator means it doesn't need any
treatment and pays no attention to its provenance or value in this
regard.

The number of categories varies from 2 on upwards (e.g. Needs
conservation: Yes/No), with 4 divisions being most commonly used and
useful, e.g.

    1 - No conservation required

    2 - Conservation required, but condition stable

    3 - Conservation required, object unstable, condition
        deteriorating

    4 - Unstable condition, rapid deterioration, treatment needed as
        soon as possible.

Or words to that effect, although many surveys use just 3 categories
(the first 3).

Many other categories of information may be gathered at the same
time (treatment times, materials, dimensions, presence of hazardous
materials, storage upgrade requirements, light exposure, object
numbering, inventory, etc) but the core of the survey is the
condition rating.

I have found with the surveys that I have done that it is hugely
important that the collection management be in good order, with a
recent, proper inventory before you start, the records should all be
in good condition, and the packing and storage system be easily
accessible, otherwise what would be a 2 month project ends up taking
5 years as you have to sort through collection management muddles
just to find the object and properly record your data.

The most useful resource I have found on the subject has been

    Suzanne Keene.
    "Audits of Care: a Framework for Collections Conditions
    Surveys", p65, in "Care of Collections", edited by Simon J,.
    Knell, Routledge, 1994.

Hope that helps,

Valerie Tomlinson
Conservator
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Tamaki Paenga Hira
The Domain, Private Bag 92018
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
+64 9 306 7070ext7304


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:38
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