Coppied shamelessly from the most recent NAME (National Association for
Museum Exhibition)newsletter: Newsflasher Contact NAME at www.N-A-M-E.org

********************
The National Park Service has announced the creation of “pilot”
conservation standards and specifications for museum exhibitions. These
standards grew out of the National Park Service’s (Department of
Conservation) general guidelines for the preservation of displayed museum
collections.

Exhibit Conservation Guidelines: Incorporating Conservation into the
Exhibit Planning, Design and Fabrication, a 1999 electronic publication,
was developed to promote responsible preservation practices -- not to
dictate standards. The next step is to develop a prescriptive set of
standards and acceptable practices to regulate how exhibits use museum
objects. Conservation Standards for Exhibits Utilizing Museum Objects will
ensure safe practices within museums and will guide the procurement process
for exhibits created by contracted designers. The publication’s goal is to
produce a set of practical standards to assist exhibit and conservation
specialists to plan, design and install preservation-responsible exhibits
in diverse cultural institutions. Two pilot areas will be addressed:
Conservation Standards for Developing Exhibits Containing Museum
Collections, and Conservation Standards for Museum Exhibit Cases.

At its spring meeting, the NAME Board endorsed the standards project. This
document will prove valuable to NAME members as it will provide solid
conservation guidance and will fulfill what the NAME Code of Ethics refers
to as “standard, accepted preservation techniques.” These pilot standards
will significantly help exhibit professionals, while assisting institutions
to meet their preservation mandate.

Toby Raphael, Conservator
Conservation Advisor to the NAME Board
NPS Standards Project Coordinator

********************************
posted by Diane Gutenkauf, NAME membership serf.


On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 10:00:57 -0400, Elizabeth Moore <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Dear Listers,
>
>We currently use the AAM Standard Facilities Report to provide
>information about our exhibit areas and also request that it be filled
>out and provided to us from other museums wishing to borrow exhibits
>from us.  The SFR provides the questions, but no guidelines or
>recommendations for interpreting the answers provided.
>
>I did not see any guidelines or recommendations for environmental
>conditions for various kinds of exhibits (object-based, non-object
>based, art, natural history, etc.) on the AAM website.  We have several
>books and references discussing environmental concerns.  There is no
>shortage of relevant literature, it's just that most of it gives you
>lots of information and then you are left come up with your own
>guidelines.  We have come up with our own guidelines but would like
>something that has the weight of a formal publication behind it to
>distribute to our exhibit designers and exhibit team members. While
>every museum will have different concerns and needs, surely there must
>be some concise set of "industry standards" that we could use.  I would
>think this would be especially useful for small museums or historic
>sites who don't have trained collections or conservation staff.
>
>My question is this:  Does anyone know of a single document that gives
>environmental recommendations or guidelines for exhibits?  If so, where
>can I get a copy?  I'm not on the exhibits group from AAM so I don't
>know if that group has prepared something or not.
>
>Thank you in advance for any insight you may have.
>
>Elizabeth
>
>Dr. Elizabeth A. Moore
>Curator of Collections and Archaeology
>Virginia Museum of Natural History
>1001 Douglas Avenue
>Martinsville, VA  24112
>[log in to unmask]
>(276) 666-8634
>
>

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