Perhaps the best way to get volunteers to wear gloves is to show them the
damage that can happen if they don't. Take a piece of brass, polish it with
Brasso or something similar, thoroughly degrease it, then plant your sweaty
fingers firmly onto it. Leave it in a humid area for a couple of months &
you will then have a piece of brass with your fingerprints deeply etched
into it.

The only museum artifacts that should be handles without gloves are smooth
ceramics and glassware (because they can be slippery), and these should be
wiped clean once handling is finished.

Wearing gloves in museums not only protects the artifacts, but also
provides protection to the wearer. People tend to forget that the objects
themselves can be dangerous. Various highly toxic chemicals have been used
in the past as pesticides etc., and were frequently applied directly to the
objects. Arsenic & DDT were both commonly used, and both are residual, ie
they may still be on the surface of the object many years later.

George Bailey
Objects Conservator
Australian War Memorial
Treloar Centre for Conservation
4 Callan St, Mitchell, A.C.T. 2911
Australia
Phone: +61 6 241 6122
fax:   +61 6 241 7998
email: [log in to unmask]