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                   IDENTIFYING MUSEUM MATERIALS:
      a short course in collections management and conservation
 
Presented by the San Diego Natural History Museum in conjunction with
             International Academic Projects, London
                          September 14-17, 1994
 
This is a four-day, intensive professional course on the practical
identification of museum materials, designed for anyone who works with
collections of historic, cultural, artistic or scientific objects.
Accurate identification of the materials from which objects are made is
vital to decisions in classification, conservation, documentation,
exhibition, and storage. The course will focus on identification of a
wide range of natural and manmade materials, using visual and physical
techniques. Identification of deteriorated and corroded surfaces and the
causes of deterioration will also be covered.
 
Materials to be studied and analyzed in depth include wood, bone, horn,
ivory, shell, glass, ceramics, metals, adhesives, plastics, and other
materials commonly found in museum objects. Emphasis is placed on
techniques that use a minimum of technological or destructive sampling
approaches.
 
Both lecture and laboratory sessions will be offered. Participants are
encouraged to bring problematic materials from their own collections or
areas for discussion and identification. The course will be taught
primarily at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.
 
Course instructors are Bob Child, BSc, FIIC, FSA, Head of Conservation,
National Museum of Wales, and Sally Shelton, MA, Collections Conservation
Specialist, San Diego Natural History Museum. Both are visiting lecturers
to the International Centre for the Study and Restoration of Cultural
Property (Rome), and have taught other IAP courses.
 
Course fees are $225 for registrations postmarked on or before 1
September, $250 for those marked after. Course fees do not include
transportation, lodging, or meal costs.
 
For further information and registration, please contact Sally Shelton at
the following address:
San Diego Natural History Museum
P. O. Box 1390
San Diego, CA   92112
phone (619) 232-3821, x226; FAX (619) 232-0248
email [log in to unmask]
 
Support for this course is provided in part by the Bay Foundation through
          a grant to International Academic Projects, London.