Search

Coconut shell is a material that has been used in cultural heritage across the continents and has been linked with human migration and colonization for thousands of years. Though ubiquitous, as a material coconut shell lacks the extensive conservation research done on similar cellulosic materials such as wood. Coconut shell objects are housed and displayed in museums across the globe, without knowledge of the effects of humidity, temperature, or lighting and no information about coconut shell morphology for identification and responsiveness to conservation treatment. This study attempts to address all of these gaps by surveying museum professionals regarding the care, treatment, and state of coconut shell materials, and connect these findings to results of aging, humidity, and adhesive tests. The ultimate goal of this work is to provide suggestions for best practices for coconut shell objects in museum collections and inspire future research into coconut shell as a material. Coconut shell bowl samples were subjected to fluctuating humidity conditions, light aging, and Oddy testing. These results were then compared to morphology of coconut shell using cross-sections taken of the bowls following the procedures used for wood sampling.

The selection of storage and display materials is a critical step in the successful preservation of material culture. While their purpose is to protect cultural materials from deterioration, they themselves can act as a source of pollutants and acidic vapors. To make the use of both archival and non-archival materials more reliable, conservators have developed standard methods of materials testing. The most ubiquitous of these assessments is the Oddy Test. However, its high cost and specialized equipment prohibit many smaller museums and archaeological projects from conducting the Oddy Test. Frustratingly, it is frequently such contexts in which untested, non-archival materials are used. Drawing on her experience and collaboration with the conservator and collections management staff at El Museo del Sitio de Pachacamac in Lima, Peru, the author proposes a potential solution to the challenges of materials testing. The Multi-Test is a two-step, multi-component assessment based in materials identification and acidic off-gas monitoring. This novel combination of assessments, as well as the standard Oddy Test, was conducted on a range of storage and exhibition materials collected in Lima. Comparison of the results of the two testing systems suggests that the Multi-Test may be an accurate and consistent method of materials testing.

A review of management and preservation practices for animation cels in archives, libraries, and museums shows a lack of information dissemination of this media among the information memory field. A survey was conducted of 15 repositories along with interviews and site visits to determine what practices were being utilized by professionals. The results show that studio archives have not maintained care of their animation cels, while museums and special libraries have provided better stewardship. The results and recommendations are available to be used as an aid for repository personnel to preserve and manage their animation cel collection.

Skin and hide materials such as leather and rawhide are prone to deterioration through a process known as denaturation, which involves the disordering of collagen molecules given sufficient free water and heat. Denaturation has no conservation treatment currently recorded in the literature; therefore, an experimental treatment was devised using catechin. This treatment was compared against other treatments currently in use for deteriorated leather. Samples were aged, treated, and examined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and fiber optic reflective spectroscopy (FORS). Analysis showed that on average, catechin-treated samples had improved properties compared to the control and the other treatments. Furthermore, the catechin treatment was less hazardous to the conservator and caused fewer side effects in the material than the other treatments. Therefore, the experimental treatment is considered a promising candidate for further research and possible future use. However, more study is needed to confirm these preliminary results.

Building Bridges Between the Virtual and Real utilizes interviews with content creators, technology developers, and museum personnel to detail the ways in which these parties have worked together to bring augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences into the museum. With a brief summary of museological theory on the function of digital technologies in the museum and a survey of AR and VR experiences exhibited in museum space, this study is designed to facilitate and foster collaborative projects that further integrate AR and VR into the museum environment.

Archivists, librarians, and historians desire to preserve the past. Many aspects of fashion design, from costume, illustrations, and swatches have been archived as an integral part of documenting the design process. Trend predictives or forecasting reports are utilized by the fashion industry, yet are not preserved. These books are used to predict what silhouettes, colors, and fabrics will be popular in upcoming seasons, so designers, manufacturers, and retailers can successfully sell items that consumers want. These forms of ephemera have an original intent that was not meant to last long periods of time, and interviews with publishers, experts in fashion, libraries, museums, and archives indicate varied viewpoints about the need to preserve these physical books. I will present information about fashion and trend forecasting, along with interview findings about preservation of trend forecasts. I will explore why these books should be saved due to their documentation of costume history, popular culture, social history, and the evolution of the fashion industry from a designer based industry to a global communication of style and technology as well as address issues of digitization of trend reports.

Inspired by an interest in finding both a natural material alternative as well as a successful treatment approach to powdering leather surfaces on a Native American object, a comparative study of two novel treatment materials and two established consolidants for leather with red rot was undertaken. Natural material consolidants have been demonstrated to be preferred by tribal members for use on materials other than leather. One of the materials tested as a potential consolidant was neri, an aqueous mucilage most commonly extracted from the roots of the aibika plant that is used in the traditional production of Japanese paper. The other material selected was chitosan, the main derivative of the natural polymer chitin, which has recently been applied in treatments of archaeological silk and paper. The performance of these potential materials as leather consolidants was compared against the performance of established modified organic consolidants, i. e. mixtures of Cellugel and Klucel G with the acrylic wax SC6000. The study focused on evaluating each material's consolidation performance, the visual and physical changes observed on the leather, and the chemical stability of the consolidant following heat and light aging. Although neri proved to have excellent chemical stability, it is not recommended for leather due to unavoidable water content and unsatisfactory working properties. Though chitosan had no adverse effects towards the appearance and feel of the leather, it is not recommended as a consolidant until further research is conducted on its chemical stability. The Klucel G with SC6000 mixture had great application properties but the wax component is questionable due to the opacity change of the aged wax. Cellugel demonstrated the most desirable properties in performance and chemical stability; therefore it was selected as the consolidant for the treatment on the Native American object. Experimental results indicate that the natural materials evaluated may be re

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the condition and treatment of the mounting number of scarce materials in member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The role of access to materials in libraries is shifting due to changes in digitization technology and so preservation guidelines must reflect this fact, to protect the old and new formats. Although ARLs are trusted as stewards to preserve their collections, the logistics involved in caring for these scarce materials are compromised when the need for physical intervention outweighs what is currently feasible for most preservation departments. This study is comprised of a random sample survey of 465 English language monographs in the GR subject category "Folklore" (out of a total population of 5,752 English language Folklore monographs). This study examines the condition and holdings of the surveyed monographs at the University of California, Los Angeles' Young Research Library (YRL) focusing on materials scarcely held. In this study "scarce" refers to the population of monographs (12 or fewer copies) that make up the last remaining copy or copies collectively held, as reflected by libraries that report to OCLC's Worldcat, the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic database. The examination of these monographs identifies some of the inherent challenges ARL member libraries face in moving these large collections forward. Monographs are currently distinguished between "Special" and "Circulating" Collections, but this is an outdated model that does not account for the masses of circulating materials that fall somewhere between these accepted constructs and are sometimes informally known as "Medium-Rare" Collections. A significant finding of this study is that a large percentage of materials in UCLA's Folklore collection has damage procured as a result of previously attempted conservation interventions. Integrating shared information among ARLs about collective holdings and

A comparison of record types from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) museum archives and the registrars, in addition to interviews with archivists, librarians and registrars from NHM and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) lead to findings that knowledge sharing between museum archives and registrars result in enriched institutional records. This partnership is explored as a mechanism for promoting the services and resources provided by registrars and museum archivists to improve their visibility and permanence within an institution. The thesis is framed against a case study referencing how the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art (LACMHSA) became two separate institutions: NHM and LACMA; and illustrates how the strong connections between museum archives and registrars records illuminate the potential of collaborative efforts.

The sub-disciplines of ethnographic conservation and the conservation of contemporary art share a common goal of incorporating intangible, or non-physical, meanings of the artwork into the preservation approach through collaboration with artists and living descendants. By adapting best practices in contemporary art conservation, namely an artist interview, the tangible and intangible properties of a Balinese cili figure with a known artist/maker are studied. In collaboration with the artist/maker, Ni Nyoman Kawiwati, various aspects of the cili figure are presented, including cultural context, materials identification, construction techniques, conservation treatment, storage, and display.Following the artist interview, cross sections were prepared from the cili figure and compared with reference material, identifying the palm leaves of the cili figure as Borassus flabellifer. The artist/maker also provided a disassembled figure that clarifies construction techniques and internal organs, which are the most important components of the artwork, within the bottom of the cili that could not be fully imaged with X-radiography. The artist/maker describes the cultural meanings and functions of the figure and suggests a preference for renewal or replacement rather than preservation of the original object. A compromise in conservation approach is chosen, where the older figure is treated with input from the artist/maker and a new figure by the artist/maker is incorporated into the museum collection as part of her wish for renewal of the object.Conservators should be mindful of how we perceive an object, for this will influence conservation decisions. The perception of the cili figure as a traditional object belonging to a generalized Balinese culture is challenged. As an argument against anonymity, the interview provides an individual's perspective, allowing for the artist to play an active role in the interpretation and preservation of her artwork. The distinction between an