Collections care

Collections care, which is sometimes called preventive conservation, involves any actions taken to prevent or delay the deterioration of cultural heritage. The primary goal is to identify and reduce potential hazards to heritage with thoughtful control of their surroundings. The professions most influenced by collections care include conservator-restorers, curators, collection managers, and registrars.

Cultural heritage face threats from a variety of sources on a daily basis, from thieves, vandals, and pests; to pollution, humidity, and temperature; to natural emergencies and physical forces; to all kinds of light. Effects stemming from these issues can be treated and sometimes reversed with interventive conservation after the damage has occurred. However, many of the sources of danger mentioned above are controllable, and others are at least predictable. Collections care strives to mitigate the occurrence of damage and deterioration through research and the implementation of procedures which enhance the safety of cultural heritage objects and collections. The areas of particular concern with regard to the sources of damage include: environmental conditions, collections maintenance, museum integrated pest management, emergency response, and collections management.

Environmental conditions are highly controllable in most indoor situations. They include the temperature, relative humidity, light levels present in a collection space on any given day, and contaminants. Some flexibility is naturally built into most collections when it comes to the temperature and humidity changes they can bear, allowing for conditions to vary somewhat in response to the outdoor environment of a location.

Two types of light offer potential decay to cultural heritage: ultraviolet (UV) light and visual light (light that can be perceived by the human eye). Although they can be affected simultaneously by removing light sources, reducing overall intensity, or increasing the distance between a light source and an object, best preventive practice treats these types of light separately due to their differences.

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Wikipedia