We had a great turnout at the November GNSI-DC meeting.  It was announce
on
the internal museum list so we had a number of museum staff as well.  The
presentation on paper conservation by Mary E. Studt of the Smithsonian
Center for Materials Research and Education (SCMRE) was an overview of the
factors to consider when buying materials; the types of degradation that
can occur to art and why; as well as some storage and display suggestions.
One prominent conservation storage treatment for paper works seems to be
the custom creation of encapsulating mylar bags. The bag will either be
left open on one or two sides for easy access, or actually sealed when
possible (the degradation compounds that may be in the art or paper will
effect this choice) often a buffer sheet is included to soak up bad stuff.
Mary also said you could outfit yourself with paper testing supplies to
check the most common problems in paper (~$45).

The best thing was an extensive hand out with resource information.

The bulk of this can be accessed through the web at the following
locations.  It unfortunately seems to lack any web site coordination:

***************
Super site for Digital Inkjet output conservation and aging info.!
http://www.wilhelm-research.com/

______________
SMITHSONIAN CENTER  FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION (multilingual
support)
http://www.si.edu/scmre/

RESCUING RECORDS - RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEMS OF PRESERVING DOCUMENTS IN
RESEARCH COLLECTIONS
http://www.si.edu/scmre/videoscp.html

CARING FOR PAPER ARTIFACTS
http://www.si.edu/scmre/paperdocs.html

Basic steps in paper-making, relating those steps to the chemical and
physical properties of materials.
http://www.si.edu/scmre/teaching_with_papermaking.html

Teaching with Time Capsules
http://www.si.edu/scmre/teachingtime.html

PAPER-BASED MATERIALS GUIDELINES
http://www.si.edu/scmre/glpaper.html

Preservation: Identifying Problems and Solutions Facing Paper-Based
Collections
http://www.si.edu/scmre/dvrpcc.html

Preservation Problem Areas
http://www.si.edu/scmre/presprob.html

HOUSING DESCRIPTIONS
http://www.si.edu/scmre/housing.html

_____________
Preservation Principals for Paper-Based Collections
http://www.scmre.org/629chemistryW/sld001.htm

PAPER CONSERVATION COURSE -Bookbinding Session
http://www.scmre.org/bookbinding.html

______________
Calander of events for the RELACT organization (we are listed in the Nov.
edition!)- interactive.
http://web3.si.edu/cal/paper

__________________
Northeast Document Conservation Center
http://www.nedcc.org/

ADDITIONAL NEDCC TECHNICAL LEAFLETS
http://www.nedcc.org/leaf.htm

TEMPERATURE, RELATIVE HUMIDITY, LIGHT, AND AIR QUALITY: BASIC GUIDELINES
FOR PRESERVATION
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf21.htm

PROTECTING PAPER AND BOOK COLLECTIONS DURING EXHIBITION
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf25.htm

STORAGE METHODS AND HANDLING PRACTICES
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf41.htm

SELECTION OF SUITABLE-QUALITY STORAGE ENCLOSURES FOR BOOKS AND ARTIFACTS
ON
PAPER
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf44.htm

MATTING AND FRAMING FOR ART AND ARTIFACTS ON PAPER
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf410.htm

STORAGE ENCLOSURES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf411.htm

HOW TO DO YOUR OWN MATTING AND HINGING
http://www.nedcc.org/tleaf66.htm

PRESERVATION SUPPLIERS AND SERVICES
http://www.nedcc.org/supsup.htm

_________________
Archives and Preservation Resources
http://www.nara.gov/arch/index.html

Products Tested by the NARA Research and Testing Laboratory (1991-present)
http://www.nara.gov/arch/techinfo/preserva/products.html

Introduction to Housing Enclosures for Archival Records
http://www.nara.gov/arch/techinfo/preserva/specs/forward.html

_________________
Image Permanence Institute at RIT (Photgraphic arhive research)
http://www.rit.edu/~661www1/

The talk was interesting and the web resources are great for explorationon
the subject.  This might be worth listing in the newsletter and adding the
links to the GNSI web site?

Britt

__________________________________________________
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Searchable art by subject: Science, Nature, and Medicine.


Britt Griswold
Science Insights Inc.
P. O. Box 973
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC  20044
(410) 757-8379

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