Most of the articles I have that might be of use to you are from a
Canadian perspective, but I'll quote from a few, if that'll help:

"Introducing Conservation" from the Journal of the Canadian
Conservation Institute (Vol. 1, 1976, pp 5-7) says; "'An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure; is more than an old saying in the
mind of the conservator; it is a guiding principle.  An enormous amount
of damge to artifacts can be avoided simply if proper steps are taken.
In museums, artifacts and works of art exist in an artificial
environment which, unless properly controlled, may bring about rapid
deterioration of objects."

"Conservation in Canada:  Background Paper for Museum Policy Working
Group" prepared by Philip Ward and Elizabeth Snow for Communications
Canada refers to H.J. Plenderleith's 1958 book "The Conservation of
Antiquities and Works of Art" as "this seminal work marked the turning
point from interventionist restoration to a preservation philosophy"
(later editions of the book are available on the Advanced Book Exchange
website, http://www.abebooks.com/, for around $50 US).  The same paper
later adds, "The need for restoration is not only a more expensive
alternative that preventitive measures, it is also deleterious to the
maintenance of the object's integrity."

You can probably get some more references from the American Group of
the International Institute for Conservation; I'm sure the AASLH would
have some useful material for you as well.

Good luck!

Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery

>>> [log in to unmask] 06/14/02 12:13PM >>>
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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