Re: question by George Manginis, Hellenic Children's Museum

There are a number of conservators in the United States, Britain and
Australia that have been working together and separately to create a
uniform standard for numbering collections.  A few years ago, a joint
AAM-AIC committee was formed. Results of that committee to date are: a
new, revised chapter by Terry Segal in Registration Methods, a work book
(currently being reformated and edited for publishing) by Gayle
Clements, a numbering kit and article by me, a traveling poster by Lori
van Handle and a different one by Gayle Clements, two excellent recent
articles by Marianna Munyer for the Illinois Association of Museums, and
numerous regional and national workshops.  One thing that Julia Fenn
discovered, plastic items will be damaged with time, or immediately, by
a varnish base coat. As the plastic deteriorates, these areas seem to
promote cracking that eventually spreads over the entire surface. The
least damaging approach, therefore, is to tag plastic items. If you must
write directly on a piece, choose an area as far from important mold
marks as possible. Do not use a barrier coat, the idea is to minimize
the actual surface area of the plastic affected by the added substance.
There are a number of different options: soft pencil (works best on
rough surfaces), wax and pigment pencil, acrylic paint written small,
and All-Stabilo (water soluble) pencils. The least damaging in the long
term is probably the soft pencil, but it doesn't always work. Probably
the most damaging in the long term would be the acrylic paint or the wax
pencil. However, given the audience and use of these items by the
Children's Museum, I suggest that you choose whichever one of these
methods serves your purpose.  But, if you can tag these items, that
would be best from a conservator's standpoint.

If you are interested in articles published on the Web, I am trying to
compile a comprehensive list on all issues pertaining to collections at:
www.collectioncare.org.  If you know of some that I have missed, please
send me the URL.

Good luck.  I would enjoy hearing what you end up doing.

Helen Alten, Conservator and President
Northern States Conservation Center
P.O. Box 8081
St. Paul, MN 55108
612-659-9420
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www.collectioncare.org