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]