Volume 15, Number 3, Sept 1993, pp.39-40

Publications-Audiovisual

Integrated Pest Management in Museums, Libraries and Archival Facilities
by Jim Harmon, 1993, Harmon Preservation Pest Management, P.O. Box 40262, Indianapolis, IN 46240. Price: $40 plus $5.50 s/h.

A "step-by-step how guide for the layman as well as the professional for the design, development, implementation and maintenance of an Integrated Pest Management program....Included are color plates and detailed descriptions of pests and their damage, directions for control methods without the use of pesticides, instructions on facility surveys and sample forms, and listings of where to get assistance and materials..."

press release

Solving Museum Insect Problems: Chemical Control
along with French version La lutte contre les insectes dans les musees: les methodes chemiques
by John E. Dawson, revised by Thomas J.K. Strang Canadian Conservation Institute Technical Bulletin 15, 1992; CCI, Communications Canada, 1030 Innes Road, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA K1A 0C8.

This bulletin is intended as a guide to help museum staff understand commercial pest control operations. Chapters titles: Regulations Governing Insecticides, Modes of Action, Insecticide Formulations, Application Methods and Possible Problems, Safety Equipment and Monitors, Other Chemical Methods, Insecticide Safety and Poisoning, Pest-by-Pest Recommendation, Properties and Side Effects of Specific Insecticides.

Dutch Tiles in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Essays by Jan Daniel van Dam and Pieter Jan Tichelaar, Catalog by Ella Schaap with Robert L. H. Chambers, Marjorie Lee Hendrix, and Joan Pierpoline, Technical notes by P. Andrew Lins. Published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1984.

The "Technical Notes" section, written by the Philadelphia Museum of Art's objects conservator, Andrew Lins, includes a brief history of methods and materials used in the manufacture of Dutch tiles during the period from 1550 to 1800, a discussion of the causes of deterioration of Dutch tiles (breakage, abrasion, and soluble salts damage), and a report about the museum's research in preparation for the desalination of the 1,400 Dutch tiles in their collection. Tiles typically were found to contain 0.5% by weight sodium chloride and calcium sulfate dihydrate.

The safest and most efficient method of reducing the very high soluble salt content of these glazed tiles was found, following experimentation, to be the use of Fuller's earth poultices. The method used is explained in the notes.

Other conclusions tentatively reached in this project regarding soaking to remove salts: (1) The most mobile soluble ions, Na, Ca, and Cl, tend to be drawn into soaking water first (2) Residual mortar or grout tends to trap salts or retard diffusion, extending the desalination soaking time (3) Long-term soaking procedures extract a calcium-rich component of the tile body after 100 hrs. of immersion in deionized water (4) Raising the temperature of the soaking water results in an increase in the rate of calcium extraction and, with time, also causes the breakdown of a silicate or alumino-silicate in the body.

Therefore, long-term soaking and elevated water temperatures are not advisable conditions for desalination of such ceramic materials.

The restoration and mounting methods used at the PMA for the Dutch tiles is also reported in detail.

E.C.W.

The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs: Traditional and Digital Color Prints, Color Negatives, Slides and Motion Pictures
by Henry Wilhelm, with contributing author Carol Brower, hardcover, 744 pages, with 543 color and b&w illustrations. Available directly from Preservation Publishing Company, 719 State Street, P.O. Box 567, Grinnell, Iowa 50112 (telephone: 800-335-6647; fax: 515-236-0800). $69.95 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. ISBN 0-911515-00-3. LC 84-6921.

Wilhelm names names, tells which color films and papers made by Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, Konica, Ilford, 3M, and Polaroid are best and which are worst, presents detailed test results gathered during his years of evaluating products, and supplies appropriate recommendations for the best ways of handling, mounting, framing, displaying, and storing color photographs. In 20 chapters the book destroys two opposing myths of color photography--that all color photographs are so impermanent that there is no way to save them, and that color materials today are so stable that their permanence need not be a concern.

Wilhelm's book gives straight answers and advice for professional and amateur photographers, as well as for museum and gallery administrators, archivists, picture-agency personnel, photo labs, people entrusted with the care of collections of color photographs and motion pictures, and everyone who loves photography.

All major color processes marketed during the last 15 years are covered, along with current photographic materials and some of the newest digital color print systems--including Kodak Ektatherm thermal dye transfer (dye sublimination) prints and Iris ink-jet color prints--as well as UltraStable, EverColor, and Polaroid Permanent Color high-stability pigment color print materials that are just now entering the market.

excerpted from publisher's press release

NFPA 911: Protection of Museums and Museum Collections, 1991 Edition.
Published by the National Fire Protection Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, P.O. Box 9101, Quincy, Massachusetts 02269- 9101. 28 pages.

This edition of NFPA 911 was prepared by the Technical Committee on Protection of Cultural Resources and acted on by the National Fire Protection Association at its annual meeting held in Boston in May 1991. This edition has been approved by the American National Standards Institute.

This latest revision was undertaken to meet a foreseen need for a more useful document to the museum community. Recognizing that most museums network with each other when seeking advice or making decisions regarding fire protection (as opposed to consulting a text), the committee surveyed museums across the country regarding the types of fire protection they had and what their needs were. Based on this, the text was revised and expanded. Management responsibilities were placed up front, more information on fire protection systems was included, and several new areas of emphasis were added.

Chapters include: Museum Fire Experience, Museum Management and Planning, Construction, Building Equipment and Facilities, Fire Protection Equipment, Improving Protection in Existing Buildings, Alterations and Renovations, Special Facilities, Museum Management and Operation.

Fibre Facts
by Bette Hochberg, 333 Wilkes Circle, Santa Cruz, California, 95060. $8.75.

Written to teach weavers why their textiles behave the way they do; i.e., about molecular structure, etc. A nice little bibliography (ASTM Standards, etc.) including information on finishes, new and old. An easy read and good basic stuff.

Sarah Gates, M.H.De Young Memorial Museum

Conservation Bibliography: Free and Inexpensive Publications
Published by the Alaska State Museum, 395 Whittier Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801-1718.

Prepared by WAAC member Helen Alten, the Alaska State Conservator, this bibliography lists 13 useful publications and how they can be obtained.

Records In Architectural Offices: Suggestions for the Organization, Storage, and Conservation of Architectural Office Archives

From the Massachusetts Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records, P. O. Box 129, Cambridge, Mass. 02142. Copies are available for $12 plus $3 shipping and handling, prepaid.

The publication provides an introduction to archival records and practice in architecture, design, and construction, along with practical guidelines for implementing appropriate records management and preservation programs. The time line of media and reproduction techniques is particularly useful for dating drawings. Conservators will find the publication helpful for understanding the context of design records and as a source of basic information for clients.