Re the practice of putting objects in bags and then punching holes in those
bags: DON'T! The idea that some objects need to "breathe" is an old
curator's tale. We had this discussion at the recent course on anoxic
enclosures and microenvironments course in Santa Fe. When you punch a
hole, you no longer have a bag or any real physical protection for the
object. You have a piece of plastic with a hole in it that looks like,
but does not act like, a bag. As people in the NPS found out the hard
way, this is especially disastrous in a flood. It's also bad news in a
pest infestation.

If you need to bag the object, take the time and trouble (minimal) to
find out if you have an archivally acceptable plastic or not. Then put
the object in the bag and close it. No holes. No punches. No nothing to
get in the way of the bag giving you that little physical protection.

I'm not sure where the idea that some objects suffer if they don't have
air-holes started (live grasshopper collections at summer camp, maybe?
;-)), but it's just not true. They're not alive. Most of the stuff we work
with can be left in anoxic conditions for a long time with no perceptible
damage. If the object is highly reactive in a microenvironment, then you
need another strategy besides bagging. In no case should you make holes
in bags for museum storage.

Leave the hole punches in the desk. Let the bag do its job.

Cheers,
Sally Shelton
Director, Collections Care and Conservation
President-Elect, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections




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|                 San Diego Natural History Museum                      |
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