Hi Whitney,

I looked into this a while back over similar concerns. The short answer 
is that you should probably not allow the use of laser pointers. While 
some are "safer" than others, many emit intense UV light as well as 
visible light. While you are correct in the assumption that the lasers 
have a very small point of contact and the duration of exposure is 
short, prolonged exposure may result in conservation issues.

Different pointers use different technology to produce the beam and to 
alter the color of the beam. Many pointers (usually red or green) use 
cheap IR (Infrared) diode laser modules to produce the beam. despite the 
issues associated with IR and conservation, one of the other impacts is 
the generation of heat. Because IR is difficult to filter and heat is 
hard to dissipate in pointer bodies, on cheaper pointers the heat 
actually remains as a component of the 'beam'. The IR energy in these 
lasers can actually be capable of lighting matches or popping balloons!

If any studies have been done on the impact of these laser pointers on 
collections, I'd love to see them. At the time I raised the question no 
one was aware of such a study, so we decided the best approach, based on 
the information at hand, was to simply prohibit the use of ANY laser 
pointing devices, even though some better ones are supposed to be 
filtered, etc. In lieu of the lasers I found very small penlights made 
by "Mag-Light" (http://www.maglite.com/) worked very well. These little 
flashlights/torches have a focusable beam and are quite durable. I also 
found the manufacturer to be very helpful in choosing the best solution 
for us. We also decided to train our docents to point the beam to a spot 
on the wall (usually the object label, which being a light color has 
greater reflectivity) adjacent to the artifact as opposed to directly at 
the object.

Good luck,

Larry Fisher
Museum Planner, Designer, Imagineer
p: (401) 253-5335
e: [log in to unmask]
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lfisher160



On 1/20/2011 9:35 AM, Whitney Alexandra Jones Robertson wrote:
> Good morning all,
> apologies for cross-posting. The education staff at our institution is 
> curious about docents using flashlights or laser pointers to identify 
> objects about which they are talking. Do any of you have experience 
> with this? Is it done in your museum? How has it worked for the 
> docents and visitors? Is the momentary exposure to a laser of concern 
> to collections? I don't think that a weak flashlight occasionally 
> shone over an object will cause substantial UV damage, but I know less 
> about the qualities of laser-pointer lasers.
> Thanks very much for your help!
>
> Whitney A. J. Robertson
>
> Collections Assistant
>
> Dumbarton House
>
> 2715 Que Street NW Washington, DC 20007
>
> (202) 337-2288 www.dumbartonhouse.org<http://www.dumbartonhouse.org/>
>
> [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
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