Marybeth,

It would be helpful in answering your question if you elaborated a bit more on the problems you observe in your current storage location.  Are the metal items rusting (more than they had before being moved there)?  Is there mold on the organic materials that is new growth?  Do you see surfaces that are spalling and flaking?  What are the specific active problems you want to address with moving specific types of objects to better environmental conditions?  Yes, we all want the best conditions we can provide, but realistically, many existing conditions are "good enough" if they are not causing identifiable ongoing problems.  What are yours?

It also would be helpful to understand the range of objects in your collection in order to make reasonable suggestions on prioritization.  Thank you.

Marc

American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
     4 Rockville Road
     Broad Brook, CT 06016
     www.conservator.com 
     860-386-6058 

Marc A. Williams, President
     MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
     Former Chief Wooden Objects Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
     Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)




From: Marybeth S Tomka 
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 10:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask] 
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Prioritizing collections


Good morning all,

 

I have the opportunity to move some collections into more secure and slightly better environmental conditions.  No way can I move everything that I think should be moved, but I wanted some opinions on how to prioritize what should be moved.  I am particularly concerned about vegetal material (dry cave vegetation and wood tools), ferrous metals, bone and shell.  I should also say that once moved, the new storage area is closer to our best climate controlled area and we intend to then evaluate moving/exchanging materials into the best area.  

 

Last summer I did a spot inventory of some of the materials and most everything looked like it was doing okay because the plastic bags are moderating some of the fluctuations in temperature and humidity.  However, we are in a very humid area with high temperatures and don't quite know if I should prioritize the metal objects or the vegetal materials.  Not to sound flippant but most of our metals are cans, nails, etc. and probably not as crucial to understanding human behavior as the dry cave materials.  I would assume you can tell what I am leaning toward. . .

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Marybeth

 

Marybeth S. F. Tomka, M.A., PS Cert CM
Head of Collections
TARL        
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station R7500
Austin, Texas 78712
512-475-6853 direct line
512-232-6563 fax
512-471-5960 TARL main phone

www.utexas.edu/research/tarl/
www.texasbeyondhistory.net

State Certified Repository

 



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