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Hi Kate,
Here at Syracuse the curators and conservation staff work very closely. We examine materials as needed during the curation process at which point we also start a discussion on display needs (flat, cradle, mount, mat, ...). At least 4 weeks prior to the we receive all exhibition materials in the conservation lab at which time final decisions are made concerning display needs. Conservation staff led by the conservator then conserve all items prior to display, make all mounts, and mount the labels. We also install the exhibition.
To date we have been fortunate that the items to be displayed have been predominantly drawn from our manuscript collections and in fair condition, with the bindings generally only in need of minor repairs as well. Recent exhibitions have also been used to highlight newly (re)processed collections or new acquisitions. For this group of materials (especially the new acquisitions) we pro-actively conserve all materials as needed/appropriate during the end-processing process where conservation staff apply bookplates...
If we were to have an exhibit of our earlier printed books or architectural materials, the conservation needs would need to be addressed much sooner in the process as treatments would be much more involved.
In the end we believe that conserving items prior to exhibition helps protect them and that it serves an important PR function. It shows that we care about our materials and that can influence donors and hopefully administrators.
Hope this helps,
Peter
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Peter D. Verheyen
Preservation & Digital Access Librarian Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Library Syracuse, NY 13244 315.443.9756 <pdverhey@xxxxxxx> <http://scrc.syr.edu> |