Conservation Assessment
The four main influences affecting indoor environment are the weather, the building, the engineering or environmental services (such as heating, lighting and air conditioning), and human beings.
These factors create conditions that put a collection at risk, namely:
• fluctuating humidity and temperature;
• excess light;
• the presence of pollutants and pests;
• the way instruments are handled or used; and
• the activities taking place within the galleries.
Risks can be reduced if they are managed as part of an overall collection care plan. An effective plan must, therefore, be based on accurate information about the collection and its surroundings. The questions that need to be asked are:
• What is the general condition of the collection, the building and the internal environment?
• How are objects displayed, stored, handled and moved?
• How are the collections used?
Gathering information is fundamental to collection care, but data gathering must ultimately lead to constructive improvements. A conservation assessment covering the necessary ground will compile the evidence needed to develop a long-term environmental strategy. There are three phases:
Collection Condition Survey
This will identify individual instruments needing conservation, and will also provide information on the physical condition of the whole collection. The survey will include evidence of how instruments are used by staff and researchers and, in a broader sense, how they may be affected by visitors.
Profile of Existing Environment
A compilation of data from suspected problem areas should run concurrently with the collection condition survey. This will provide information on which to base control improvements. The following should be assessed:
• The appropriate range of environmental variables to be measured.
• How monitoring is or will be organized.
• What equipment is or will be used.
If regular monitoring has never taken place, a quick snapshot of conditions can be obtained by monitoring relative humidity, temperature, and light near known vulnerable instruments. Monitoring equipment ranges widely in price, quality and applicability, so before purchases are made professional sources should be consulted. When developing a long-term monitoring programme, the following questions should be asked:
• What variables should be monitored, and why?
• How much data should be collected?
• Are there plans for routine analysis and interpretation of data?
• What will happen to the data after processing?
• What equipment is needed?
• What equipment already exists?
• Is there training available in the use of this equipment?
• Are servicing, maintenance, and calibration going to require extra time and money?
• Who will be responsible for monitoring, and will the person have sufficient authority to report to senior management?
• What is the budget?
Building Shell Survey
This survey should start with external and internal inspections of the building shell. An initial building appraisal may be undertaken by a conservator or curator walking through the premises. It may be necessary to follow this with a detailed survey for which an architect or building surveyor must be engaged.
The aim of a conservation assessment is to provide information upon which to build an environmental strategy. The combined information obtained from the surveys on collections condition, environmental conditions, and the building will help formulate an environmental strategy. The assessment should be reviewed periodically by museum staff so that it can continue to be used as a reference point for decisions on:
• capital expenditure for building improvements;
• purchasing and installing new equipment and upgrading or replacing of old equipment;
• training for museum staff on how to use and calibrate monitoring equipment, record and interpret data, and operate and evaluate control equipment; and
• preventive and condition-based maintenance programmes covering the building and services.