I'm looking for policy statements, articles, or other publications that
explain the difference between conservation and restoration and when each
might be appropriate.  I'm particularly interested in items which explain
the modern museum perspective of retaining original materials, finishes, and
wear patterns rather than making something look brand new.  I would also
appreciate anything that explains the cost effectiveness of levels of
collections care (i.e. why you should spend the donation on UV filters and
environmental controls for the whole building rather than hiring someone to
renovate one old piano that will then sit in the unheated, sunny building).

These things may be obvious to most of you (us) but I clearly need to make a
better case with my Board.  For the first thirty years of the Museum's life,
when it was volunteer-run, the focus was on complete restoration of
individual artifacts.  The result is that we have a few pieces of machinery
with replacement parts, married parts, and amateur repainting jobs while the
rest of the collection continued to rust in the rain.  The Museum continues
to maintain a close relationship with the antique tractor club and while
their renovations are more accurate and professional, that is obviously
still not my goal for the Museum collection.  I've argued that the worn
pieces and few remaining paint chips are historically important and while
that seems to make sense at the time, the Board continues to select the
redone items as most exhibit worthy and to recommend spending money on
individual repairs rather than collection-wide treatments.  I'm hoping that
if I can hand out some readings or examples things might begin to sink in.

Anne L. Foster
Director
Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture
P O Box 353
Huntley MT 59037
phone: (406) 348-2533
fax: (406) 348-2534
email: [log in to unmask]

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