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] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).