I just want to throw one more thing out there as food for thought: you
can consider microclimates within cases - and you should, because cases
tend to create different conditions than their surroundings even if they
are not well sealed.  Plexiglass covered cases under spotlights tend to
get a little warm (!), and of course the temperature change effects the
rH.

For broader concerns, the Conservation Analytical Lab reports certainly
did throw everyone into a tizzy when they challenged the long-acceoted
"standards" everyone talked about.  Everybody giving warnings about
fluctuations is probably thinking along the right lines.

There IS research out there on what the tolerances of specific materials
are (hygroscopically speaking); we should try and accomodate them as
best we realistically can (a big raspberry from me to directors who say
"It lasted hundreds of years in the ground, why does it need to be
air-conditioned now!?!") or maybe we should think about giving them to
another institution that can do better.  The old standby "The Museum
Environment" by Gary Thomas (I think) is a good reference for why this
stuff is important (for ideas if not for numbers).

Best of luck!!
Tim
--
Timothy L. Campbell
[log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8189

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