AIC's 53rd Annual Meeting

The Collection Care Department at The UK National Archives ensure the continued access to 11 million archival records. But the idea of ‘access’ within a heritage context is changing as organisations work to become equitable and inclusive spaces. As a result, our preservation decision making is changing with this, aided by a dedicated engagement team within the department. 

Historically, conservation was rarely at forefront of public or institutional view, and to our detriment, we were often viewed as a barrier to increased access. Over the last three years however, we have made a concentrated effort to shift this narrative towards one of partnerships and mutual benefit, innovative heritage science and conservation practice that has wide appeal, and collective responsibility to care for our collection.

This presentation will focus on a key area of our ongoing work – supporting increased engagement with school aged children and audiences with additional needs. Through several case studies we explore how we are trying to meet the needs of these audiences; increasing the reach of our work digitally as well as through onsite displays; and building deeper relationships through effective engagement activities based on the materiality of our collection and role of the conservator. These include:

* A collaboration with education researchers, teachers, museum education teams, and heritage scientists across the UK to align heritage science to the UK primary school science curricula. We investigated how heritage science can help to break down silos between the teaching of arts and sciences, creating curricula maps and lesson plans that can be led by non-specialist museum staff and teachers.
* A collaborative research project exploring how multisensory experiences can be used to access, engage with, and understand the materiality of archival collections. Through this already impactful pilot project we are now working with SEND specialists to centre materiality in our SEND education lessons; we are also working with our outreach team to deliver enriching activities for people who have dementia based around smell; we are collaborating with PurpleStars, a group of researchers with and without learning disabilities, to develop inclusive and empowering research practices based on materiality of our collection; as well as creating multisensory, inclusive displays.
* Our object lessons for ‘high use records’ used regularly by our Education team to approach holistic decision making for access. Here, we bring together multiple internal and external stakeholders to create audience driven decision making frameworks that not only support our conservation team’s work, but also accountability and responsibility across the organisation.
* A project to create lesson plans with increased tactile access for students who are partially sighted or blind. This novel project challenged our assumptions on how our records will be used. 

Each case study will include an overview of the projects, focusing on the collaborative approach of each, as well as their benefits and challenges. More broadly, the presentation will also reflect on how we navigate internal relationships within a large organisation with competing priorities to create these opportunities, and how we built processes to evaluate the impact of our engagement activities.

The National Library Board (NLB) and National Archives of Singapore (NAS), together with the Urban Redevelopment Agency, Singapore’s urban planning authority, embarked on an extensive 5-year architecture collecting project in 2023. The momentous effort primarily seeks to encapsulate the history of prominent architecture designs in Singapore. The paper-based items included sketches on translucent tracing and butter paper, building plans, watercolour presentations, diazo prints, and printed images on copier paper.

The conservators from Archives Conservation Lab (ACL) of NAS play an essential role in this cross-functional collaborative project. Two conservators were engaged to support this project in carrying out conservation treatments and re-housing of the plans, which numbered 75,000 pages in the first round of collecting. From conceptualizing the storage of the items given their large format, to formulating a decision-making matrix for conservation approaches, close consultations with the donors team who were in charge of the collecting was extremely important, particularly in setting up new workflows for this unique collection. A one-size-fits-all approach did not apply here as each donated box of plans came with different conditions and required customised attention. It was imperative to streamline decision-making and prioritise treatment and housing solutions for the collection that was coming to the lab in staggered bursts. Such efforts provided much clarity for conservators who were new to the profession as well as for our colleagues in the donors team so that subsequent batches of plans could be processed, conserved and housed efficiently, with purpose and confidence.

The initial tranche of this project also culminated in an exciting exhibition, the first of a planned few, ‘To Draw an Idea: Retracing the Designs of William Lim Associates – W Architects’ which exhibited over 550 multifarious design drawings covering 19 contemporary architectural projects from 1981 to 2015. ACL supported this exhibition by working closely with the curators from the planning and ideation, condition assessments and installation stages – all of which required innovative problem-solving. Every exhibition is different, and conservators increasingly must find a balance that works when working in unconventional exhibition spaces– without compromising the preservation needs of the items.

The Architecture Collection Project is an example that emphasises that the role of conservators today has transformed beyond simply providing one-off exhibition or conservation support. Collaboration with all stakeholders and partners means advocating for conservation principles, while balancing them sensibly with practicality and feasibility to ensure that objectives are met, and outcomes are achieved successfully for all groups involved. It sets the foundation for greater camaraderie among different functional groups and stakeholders, built on understanding, engagement and synergy.

In this presentation, an archivist and a conservator will share their experiences working and learning together over the past decade, as well as their research on a persistent communication gap between their professions. This gap often leads to missed opportunities for collaboration that could benefit archivists and conservation, as well as the collections and the communities they serve. The gap widened in the wake of the seminal archival management article “More Product, Less Process,” published by Mark Greene and Dennis Meissner in 2005, which advocated for more efficient practices to reduce backlogs and make collections more accessible. In this article, conservation activities were portrayed as excessive and unnecessary. As a result, many archivists became dismissive of conservation, leading to tensions and a sense of misrepresentation within the conservation community.

The presentation will introduce a model for integrating preventive conservation into a holistic collection management program. When building new workflows for archival accessioning and processing, the presenters worked together to proactively develop local standards for collection management. These standards address known legacy issues and improve collections care work going forward. 

This model emphasizes the importance of archivists and conservators learning each other's professional ethics, standards, and training to improve communication and foster more effective collaboration, while embracing humility, curiosity, and mutual respect. This learning occurs through committee work, reading groups, collection planning meetings, after action reviews, and events. Open discussion of our different priorities and perspectives pave the way for creating institutional programs that promote ethical, sustainable collection stewardship and have the potential for improving work experiences. The presenters will tell the stories of successes and challenges faced in their collaborations.

Multidisciplinarity draws on knowledge from different disciplines, but the context remains within those disciplines’ boundaries. Interdisciplinarity analyzes, coordinates and links knowledge between disciplines into a coherent composite. Inks&Skins https://inksandskins.org/ started as an interdisciplinary project dedicated to investigating the materiality of late-medieval Gaelic manuscripts but became so much more. The diverse groups involved expanded the research scope into that of transdisciplinarity, fully integrating the industry, conservation, manufacturing, heritage science, and scholarly research into a humanities context that transcended traditional boundaries of each of the disciplines. While multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary are additive and interactive respectively, transdisciplinary is holistic. 

Sponsored by the Irish Research Council, Inks&Skins set out with the goal of increasing our understanding of the substrate (parchment) and the composition of inks and pigments used by secular scholars who created Gaelic vellum books in the period 1100-1600.   The intent was to focus on one manuscript, the Book of Uí Mhaine, a large vellum manuscript of poetry and Irish tradition assembled c. 1390 for the Ó Ceallaigh (O’Kelly) family of Uí Mhaine in County Galway, Ireland. The synergy of more collaborating partners enriched the scope. Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) Library of Congress (LC) staff, as part of an MOU with University College Cork (UCC), undertook multispectral imaging (MSI) at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA). The MSI was intended to only be on the Book of Uí Mhaine. However, engagement through sharing initial processing to read text through stains led to further manuscripts added to the docket, including Ireland’s oldest book, ‘The Cathach, a late 6th-century Psalter. Entrusting Inks&Skins with access to these precious manuscripts underlined the commitment of the Royal Irish Academy as partners in this innovative work.

Then the pandemic arrived, and we adapted to moving forward on collaborative research remotely. Data sharing challenges were but one of the barriers we had to work through. Industry partners in Ireland assisted with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) of the RIA manuscripts and then sent the data to PRTD for interpretation. Exhausting all we could from MSI and XRF data still left challenges with understanding the organic components of the inks and pigments in the manuscripts. PRTD staff created new ink and pigment reference samples for the Center for Heritage Analytical Reference Materials (CHARM). Utilizing instrumentation at LC, we essentially worked backwards to link fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) reference curves with what we had captured from the MSI on the manuscripts. The addition of collaborators continued to expand the wealth of information  extracted from the data. Connecting the MSI processed images of the manuscripts with Trinity College conservators, parchmenters and creators, greatly assisted our ability to recognize tears, scraping patterns, poorly prepared skins, veining and other features related to construction techniques. Further collaborators and research partners included two doctoral fellows, archivists, calligraphers, ink-makers and Irish humanities scholars. The breadth of the collaboration was enriched by the willingness of all to listen, learn, and share ideas from diverse perspectives. The transdisciplinarity of this heritage research enabled creating new knowledge.

The American premiere of Peter and the Wolf occurred in March 1938 at Symphony Hall in Boston, with its composer, Sergei Prokofiev, conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Prokofiev conducted from his own handwritten score, which was amended by taping English translations over the original text with pressure-sensitive tape. During the rehearsal process, dynamics and phrasing notes were written into the score with a blue pencil, sometimes directly over the tape carrier. The tape adhesive stained the manuscript as it degraded, and adhesive creep caused pages to stick together. Some tape had degraded to the point of adhesive failure, risking the loss of both tape carrier and handwritten additions to the score.

Usually, the most appropriate solution is to remove both the tape carrier and adhesive where possible to prevent further damage. In this case, however, there were several complicating factors that made treatment less straightforward. The tape was applied intentionally by the composer and showed evidence of his creative process. In addition to preserving the original intentions and aesthetics of the piece, keeping the tape also preserved the composer’s notes written onto its surface.

Samples were tested prior to treatment to determine the least disruptive and most stable methods for consolidating media, reducing adhesive, and reattaching the tape carrier. Consolidating the friable blue pencil marks on a slick, transparent surface proved to be difficult. It took multiple tests to find a consolidant that firmly adhered to the tape carrier and didn’t dull the surface sheen but could also be easily reversed without removing the friable media underneath.

Tape removal required a flexible approach. Some of the adhesive was heavily deteriorated and had lost all its tack, making it easy to remove. A greater proportion of the tape was only partially degraded and therefore extremely tacky. While a crepe eraser removed excess adhesive from paper easily, the adhesive clung persistently to the tape carrier. To break up the gumminess of the adhesive, dry wheat starch powder was applied in a fine layer.

After the hidden text underneath the taped areas was digitized, the tape carrier and translations were reattached to the paper in their original positions. It was challenging to find an adhesive that readhered the tape carrier to the text while also maintaining its optical properties. After extensive testing with samples, a heat-set application of BEVA® 371 film was selected due to its clarity, ease of application, and reversibility.

Now that treatment and digitization has occurred, the manuscript is stable and much more accessible to its readers. Loose amendments and tape carrier pieces are reattached and the friable blue pencil marks are consolidated. While the damage caused by the tape adhesive can never be reversed, the remaining adhesive has been reduced to protect against future degradation. The previously hidden and never-before-studied text is available for scholars to study via digital surrogate. Despite the unusual challenges presented by this project, conservation honored the future needs of the piece without removing the historic significance of its most damaging aspects.

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has a collection of approximately 300 sketches by Jan van der Straet (called Stradanus) a 16th century court artist to the Medici in Italy. A group of these drawings may have important information on the verso written with black chalk, but unfortunately, have been lined with paper. The presence of inscriptions/drawings on the verso has been detected using transmitted visible light when the media is ink but not for chalk. To minimize carrying out interventive conservation treatment to remove the linings from the fragile drawings, transmitted IR imaging was investigated to determine whether the technique could be used to detect chalk drawings on the verso without removing the linings from the drawings.

This initial imaging investigation involved four Stradanus drawings. Reflected and transmitted visible light and IR images were acquired of the recto and verso of the drawings. The investigation started with the three drawings that had the paper linings removed and had known verso chalk drawings. The first step involved testing whether transmitted IR imaging of the recto could resolve the verso chalk drawing which could be verified with reflectance images of the verso. Preliminary processing, during the image acquisition, indicated that transmitted IR and image processing could detect the verso drawing, so the next step involved imaging one of the unlined drawings with a paper support placed behind the object to mimic the lining. The final step involved the imaging of a fourth drawing that had not had the paper lining removed and it was unknown whether there was a verso chalk drawing. 

Transmitted IR images on their own did not provide much information, but image processing, both false color and image subtraction, was essential for further analysis. The false color image processing involved combinations of reflected and transmitted visible light and IR images including newer techniques that have only been introduced and used on paintings. The image subtraction processing was the difference between the reflected and transmitted IR images. The most promising methods were the image subtraction and the false color processing using transmitted visible and IR images. The image subtraction was able to fully resolve the verso chalk drawing for one of the drawings (both with and without a tertiary support), but the same processing was less conclusive for a verso chalk drawing that did not have identifiable features. When the difference mode was less conclusive, some of the false color processing seemed to be able to reveal some features that do not correspond with the recto ink drawing and could suggest that there might be verso chalk drawings.

The imaging of four Stradanus sketches suggests that transmitted IR imaging and additional processing is promising for detecting verso chalk drawings without removing the paper lining, but the results were not always definitive. Additional testing with a larger subset of drawings is needed to further investigate the potential of transmitted IR imaging and image processing.

Colorant Detectives: An Interactive Dichotomous Key for Multiband Imaging

L. M. Ramsey, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Colorant Field Guide is an online, interactive tool designed to aid in the visual interpretation of colorants on paper based on their responses to visible (VIS 380-650nm), ultraviolet induced fluorescence (UVF 420-650nm), ultraviolet reflected (UVR 320-400nm), and reflected infrared radiation (IR 780-1100nm [850 peak]). By employing standardized vocabularies and metrics like CIELAB and Munsell color systems, the guide ensures rigorous, reproducible, and communicable results.

Rather than relying on static research papers, black-box algorithms or automated false color post-processing systems to locate and provide results, users must navigate through a decision tree that exposes them to the various factors that influence sample behavior, including light absorption, fluorescence, and reflectance. This process demystifies colorant response by breaking it down into manageable steps, helping users to build a strong foundation of knowledge that can be applied in real-world conservation scenarios.

Transparency in documenting light/radiation sources, filters, and post-processing techniques is emphasized to achieve consistency and comparability across institutions. This approach fosters collaboration and enhances the collective knowledge base in conservation while addressing the inherent uncertainties in multispectral imaging and dichotomous identification methods.

Building a dynamic dichotomous key involves both a logical framework and technical implementation to ensure usability and functionality. I designed it to be simple and effective using basic HTML, CSS and JavaScript languages to make the key interactive, process user input, and display results dynamically. To translate the flow chart to an interactive framework, it was important to list each colorant and their responses in a standardized order. This order helps build a logical, hierarchical flow. At each decision point, users are guided either to the next question or to a result, allowing for the possibility of future expansion.

In addition to the key, I am developing a pictorial atlas of colorants recorded under these imaging techniques to serve as a visual reference. This project is intended to be publicly accessible and expandable, allowing users to submit data that meets established criteria. These submissions will be clearly credited, promoting transparency and collaboration. By encouraging contributions, this tool fosters a cooperative research environment, enriching the field of cultural heritage preservation and providing a shared resource for the broader academic community.

Dichotomous keys have long been valued in education, particularly for teaching critical thinking, systematic problem-solving, and observation skills. As multiband imaging becomes a standard practice in more institutions, this accessible tool will help ensure visual literacy in the conservation field remains strong.

Both multiband and multispectral imaging can provide a wealth of information about material characteristics and condition—with insights derived from qualitative and quantitative comparisons of images captured at different wavelengths and with different excitation sources. Workflows for these types of imaging often require costly additions to existing setups: IR-modified and/or monochrome cameras, filter sets, apochromatic lenses, and even licenses for proprietary image processing software, the sum of which can present a significant cost barrier. Certain equipment is essential, such as modified UV-VIS-IR full spectrum color or monochrome cameras. However, it is possible to perform multiband and multispectral imaging without the added cost of an apochromatic lens—one which produces a single focal plane across all wavelengths. The main challenge, however, with using a regular (achromatic) lens is the need to re-focus for each filter band, leading to registration issues across the entire set of images captured. This misalignment must be corrected post-capture not only to remove visual inconsistencies in false-color images but also to carry out any further computational analysis, such as Principal Component Analysis or Spectral Angle Mapping. 

With this issue in mind, this project has focused on developing a low-cost, open-source method for automating the registration of image sets generated from multiband and multispectral imaging workflows. Drawing on research beyond the field of art conservation, we have adapted Python code from a recent publication on vision-based robotics grasping in order to identify the specific feature-based pixel coordinates necessary for image registration. Specifically, the code utilizes an Open Source Computer Vision Library (OpenCV) tool called template matching as an alternative to feature-point detection algorithms or more complex object-detection models. In total, this method requires the addition of only a few printed paper targets and is designed to be integrated easily into existing multiband and multispectral imaging workflows. The current iteration of our adapted Python code can be executed directly from a computer’s command line, and we are hoping to create an ImageJ/FIJI plugin to make the script more readily available and user-friendly.

Northwestern University Libraries (NUL) is home to over 3,000 Arabic script materials from West Africa. Part of the Herskovits Library of African Studies, these manuscripts come primarily from northern Nigeria and cover subjects including history, theology and astronomy. Most are Arabic, but some are Ajami – non-Arabic languages written in Arabic script. The size, scope and uniqueness of these underrepresented collections, along with increasing global scholarly interest, make them a priority for conservation and digitization. In collaboration with curatorial, cataloging, and digitization staff, the NUL Preservation Department has established standardized protocols to survey, house, treat, and – using a VSC®80 forensic questioned document examination workstation – capture a range of multispectral images (MSI) that are integrated into the digital repository, adding a degree of materiality to the imaged West African manuscripts.  

Paden 417 (مختصر في فروع المالكية), a copy of the “Mukhtasar” of Khalil b. Ishaq b. Musa al-Jundi, a fourteenth-century handbook of Maliki legal principles, is one of the oldest, largest and most complex manuscripts we have worked on and serves as a case study. It is comprised of 230 individual leaves of handmade paper contained in a later leather wrapper. The primary text is written in neatly ruled lines using brown and red inks, with commentaries and annotations filling virtually all other areas of the paper in brown and black inks. The paper is brittle and discolored, with extensive losses along the edges. In preparation for imaging, the manuscript received over 300 hours of treatment from ten different current and former staff members. Our collaborative approach is not unique to this object, but it was critical for addressing the challenges presented by Paden 417, which would have been daunting and laborious for a solo conservator.  

Many of the Arabic manuscripts lack colophons or other means cataloguers use to establish clear provenance, so to understand their history and production, we must rely on the physical objects. NUL purchased a VSC®80, which allows us to quickly and consistently capture and annotate a wide range of MSI of watermarks, inks, ruling lines, and other materiality of the manuscripts.  

As one exciting example of how MSI may be used, portions of Paden 417, along with a selection of MSI files, were recently examined by scholars at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures in Hamburg, Germany. Although they had actual manuscript pages, the enhanced images of the watermarks allowed them to date the manuscript to the mid-16th century, making this one of the earliest written examples of Hausa Ajami.  

As of this writing, Paden 417 has been treated, housed, and VSC®80 images of select pages have been captured.  Digitization is underway and collation of this fragile object will follow. We anticipate that the manuscript and associated MSI will be publicly available in the digital repository by early 2025. Incorporating MSI into our digital repository augments the standard digital images, opens the door to scholarship worldwide and presents future opportunities for collaboration on machine learning and generative AI initiatives.

Stanford Libraries (SUL) comprises 20 branch libraries and centers, many with their own special collections materials. Over the past few years, Conservation Services has been actively reaching out to individual branch libraries to expand preservation efforts across SUL. These efforts generated an influx of materials in need of treatment from SUL’s East Asia Library. In order to better conserve East Asian bound materials and deepen our relationship with this library, we collaborated with internal staff and external conservation peers within and beyond book conservation to understand curatorial expectations, select appropriate terminology, and develop new techniques allowing us to meet treatment priorities.

Most materials we received from the East Asia Library have been traditional side-stitched books, bound as multiple fascicles enclosed in cloth-covered wrappers. Conservators at SUL found that our existing documentation forms and terminology, designed for European-style books, were inadequate. We addressed this by working with curatorial and cataloging staff to develop new treatment documentation policies. Conservators also shared treatment knowledge with one another to increase confidence and efficiency. This led to further collaboration with international peers on the Book and Paper Group wiki working group for East Asian Bound Formats, enhancing our understanding of East Asian book structures and materials. 

Discussions with East Asia Library curators highlighted the importance of retaining and stabilizing the original wrappers for continued use. Standard book conservation techniques were used to stabilize the wrappers, but many items required additional enclosures after treatment as we lacked the textile conservation expertise to repair and restore function to failing textile components. To fill this expertise gap, Conservation Services hosted a textile conservator for a workshop in 2023. The East Asia Library selected items with failing textile components for trial treatment, with the goal of restoring functionality to wrappers and eliminating the need for additional enclosures. Book conservators worked closely with the textile conservator to explore treatment options for these items.

Successful application of textile conservation techniques on trial treatments has resulted in more regular workflows from the East Asia Library. Our growing relationship with them has spurred more discussions with curatorial, technical, and public services staff about preservation best practices for security tags, labeling, and handling. While these individual efforts on different areas of focus might seem minor, together they have strengthened our partnership with a relatively new “client” library and expanded treatment possibilities. We view this collaboration as a model for engaging with other branch libraries and collections, addressing their unique cultural and material needs through thoughtful conservation practices.

Taiwan is a country located in East Asia, lying on the northwest side of the Pacific Ocean and off the southeastern coast of China. Its geographic position has historically made it a crucial crossroads for trade and cultural exchange among China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. The period of Japanese rule in Taiwan (1895–1945) stands out as an era of profound multicultural interaction and significant transformation. This period was marked by modernization and infrastructural development initiated by the Japanese government. Combined with the flourishing of Taiwanese art and literature in multiple languages, the island’s book publishing industry underwent a transformative evolution. This project employs both documentation of binding formats and historical research methodologies to explore the evolution of bookbinding. We have documented various bookbinding formats, including their structures, materials, and conditions, to analyze how they transformed over time and the historical reasons and impacts of these changes.

Before this era, books in Taiwan were predominantly printed and bound outside the island. The Japanese period marked a significant shift, heralding the beginning of local book publishing, printing, and binding industries. By the 1920s, there was a greater emphasis on Japanese language and culture led by the government. Influenced by movements outside the island, Chinese-language books became a means for intellectuals to express self-identity and spread new ideologies. The development of libraries also reflects the transformation. The first library established during the Japanese period was the Taiwan Library (1898). As the demand for books and Taiwan’s relation to the world changed, one of the most notable aspects of this period is the transition in binding formats. Over the fifty years of Japanese rule, there was a marked shift from predominantly East Asian side-stitched bindings to a variety of Western European bookbinding styles. It is interesting to observe the shift also in Western styles from a small amount of leather or cloth bindings to mostly modern case bindings. In the later years of this period, it was also common to see a mixture of Western materials with side-stitched bindings. This is one of the first detailed studies on this subject, yet the transformation connects with broader changes in Taiwanese society during this time.

Bookbinding formats reflect the economy and cultural movements of the period, showcasing a piece of history that is often overlooked. To gain a comprehensive understanding of bookbinding practices, the project involves documenting hundreds of books from the period of Japanese rule, collected from the National Taiwan University Library, Tainan National University of the Arts Library, and the National Taiwan Library. We recorded information on binding structures and materials, and are analyzing this data in conjunction with historical records to understand the frequency of different bindings and their relationship to social changes of the time. Additionally, we are compiling condition reports on the books to understand common deterioration, which will provide valuable insights for future conservators and enhance our understanding of bookbinding formats from this important historical period.

Plastic-coated papers can be found in the covers of paperbacks, periodicals, and other commercial books of the twenty-first century. These books are potentially collected in libraries and archives containing contemporary print materials, likely becoming more prevalent with time. While synthetic coatings provide added strength and durability to book covers, the waterproof and adhesive-resistant properties of plastic present challenges to the application of conventional treatments for the mending or stabilisation of tears. Adhering synthetic papers with wheat starch paste is likely to be unsuccessful due to the low surface energy of certain plastic coatings. 

This project aimed to identify conservation materials and methods for stabilising tears in early twenty-first century periodical journals with matte laminated covers (see Figure 1), a type of synthetic-coated paper that was identified in analysis to contain polyethylene. Analytical examination of the paper was conducted with microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, Photographic Activity Testing, and pH testing. Next, a range of 9 common conservation adhesives were trialled for adhesion to matte laminated papers with an adapted peel testing method. Successful candidates were artificially aged, tested for reversibility, and compared using visual examination, colourimetry, and gloss measurements. Adhesive candidates were then applied in over 160 blends with varying methods of brushed wet application, pre-coated tissues, and cast films. Results were ranked for adhesion and visual properties to select for the most successful methods. 

Results indicate that while repairs with most cellulosic adhesives are likely to fail, a strong and reversible bond can be achieved with certain synthetic polymer-based adhesives (e.g., Aquazol® 500, Lascaux® 303 HV, and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)). Performing a successful repair is dependent on blend ratios and application techniques that avoid both weak adhesion and high surface tack, the latter of which could cause blocking. Three techniques using a Japanese tissue carrier and compatible adhesive blends were refined for application, namely: brushing through, brushing on, and reactivating pre-coated tissues with ethanol. A practical workshop for conservators and related roles was conducted to demonstrate and disseminate the techniques.

The presented tear repair techniques are proposed based on test findings on matte laminated papers and may be suitable for use with other papers containing polyethylene. Further research is needed to address additional deterioration pathways of synthetic papers, such as deformation and abrasion. There is a need for conservators to be equipped with adapted techniques for synthetic papers, as these materials can and do form part of present and prospective collections. 

This project was supported by the 2022-2023 Fulbright-National Archives Heritage Science Fellowship.

Over the past decade, museums have prioritized outreach, engaging online audiences through blogs and social media platforms with increasing sophistication. Conservators have joined the effort, creating digital content that raises awareness about the field of conservation and carves a window into the day-to-day operations of museum conservation labs. This type of outreach, however educational and entertaining, is generally rather unidirectional, with the information being transmitted from the museum to the audience. It is rare for social media interaction to directly influence the course of a conservation treatment. In contrast, this talk will present an example where outreach resulted in a conservation treatment being revisited and revised.

In 2018, I treated the Japanese woodblock print Abalone Fishergirl with an Octopus (c. 1773-74) by Katsukawa Shunshō. The treatment was performed in preparation for LACMA’s ambitious 2019 exhibition, Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art. The print had suffered significant loss and subsequent restoration in the area of the octopus’ mouth. Treatment involved removing an overall lining and disfiguring overpaint that did not correspond to the original design, and filling losses in the primary support. When it came to adding visual compensation to the lost image area, I ran into trouble. There were no other known impressions of the print to which I could refer. I scoured museum catalogs and auction records. My supervisor contacted art historians in Japan. We had no luck. Eventually, deadlines necessitated that I move forward with treatment. In the end, I in-painted the lost image area with an intentional vagueness, adding a fill of background color but no new lines to define form. The result was obviously incomplete but attracted minimal attention, allowing the rest of the print to be properly appreciated.

Soon after treating Abalone Fishergirl with an Octopus, we published an entry on LACMA’s Unframed blog explaining the treatment process. The post included an appeal to readers to contact LACMA’s Paper Conservation lab with any information about other impressions of the print. It felt like a long shot at the time. Miraculously, four years later in 2022, my supervisor received an email from an art dealer in Venice, Italy who had come across the blog post. He had an intact impression of Abalone Fishergirl in his possession and generously sent a photo, solving the mystery of the missing octopus’ mouth in an instant.

This year I finally had the chance to return to Abalone Fishergirl. This talk will describe how I modified the earlier treatment to incorporate the new visual information, including by creating a digital fill (printed onto tengujo and finished by hand with watercolor). It will explore the lightfastness of some accessible printing methods, consider the importance of re-treatability, and celebrate the sharing of information.

Book and Paper Group Wiki coordinators Sandrine Blais and Mitchel Gundrum invite Wiki users and contributors to a (virtual) walking tour of the Wiki! This session will provide longtime contributors and newcomers alike with the chance to explore the Wiki’s origins, recent developments, and goals for the future. A history of the Wiki’s print descendants will be followed by an overview of the 2023 Semantic update, introduction to the Wiki Contributor training on the AIC learning platform, and an audience discussion on new pages and cross-specialism to consider. We invite conservators from all stages of their careers to attend this session and partake in the lively discussion that will add to the continued effort to build this collaborative knowledge base.

Sustainability is proving to be a strong driver of new technologies, solutions and practices in museums. In this context sustainability is usually characterised as the saving of energy and consequent reduction in greenhouse emissions environmental sustainability. Some consideration is often given to resource use and reuse and to the financial consequences of changes made to improve sustainability.As conservators we are interested in the effect that such changes in technology or practice might have on the short- or long-term preservation of objects and on the balance between preservation of collections and their availability to visitors and researchers.In this presentation I will look at two ways in which museums have responded for the drive for greater environmental sustainability in the field of museum lighting.First, the exponential growth of lighting technologies that reduce energy consumption, principal among these being the massively increased use of LED lighting. What is the current state of LED technology, where might advances lead in the future and what alternatives are likely?Second, the greater use of daylight, which as a carbon-neutral source has been seen as another potential answer to the question of environmental sustainability in lighting. What are its advantages and drawbacks, does the implementation of daylighting save energy, and what new technologies might change the situation?In both the above cases, I will look at how a push towards greater sustainability might affect the preservation of objects and accessibility of collections, factors that have sometimes been termed people-centred measures of sustainability. In other words, to what extent do we upset the hard-won balance between preservation and access in the name of environmental sustainability?The solution, I will argue, is that our policies need to be driven by sustainability-based decision making, but that in so doing our definition of sustainability must go beyond that traditionally associated with environmental concerns to include considerations of people-centred sustainability that address the current and future perspectives of individuals, groups and societies.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York, NY houses a collection honoring and commemorating the victims, survivors, first responders, and recovery workers of both the catastrophic 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. In addition to oral histories, digital images, audio, and video, the collection comprises approximately 30,000 physical objects, including damaged and recovered artifacts, items donated in memory of victims, and tribute art. Many of these items are composed of ephemeral, light-sensitive materials which were never intended to be preserved. However, their personal significance, and the resulting need for accessibility to the local, national, and global 9/11-affected communities cannot be overstated.  In addition to a conservation approach that emphasizes the person connected with the object, other factors associated with a memorial museum context complicate the decision-making process for artifact lighting and display.  

Storytelling personal narratives is a primary consideration from the acquisition phase through installation, exhibition, and storage, particularly because stakeholders are also predominantly the collection’s donors. Decision-making for exhibition duration and light levels becomes a collaborative but sometimes fraught process between the conservation, curatorial, and exhibition teams. For every object slated for display, 9/11 Memorial Museum staff must consider its myriad values which may include its historical value, its associated individual victims or stories, its significance as evidence of the attacks, and the existence of identical objects or similar examples. We must also weigh its social value, i.e., the perceived needs of both present-day community members and future generations with no living memory of the day. These values factor in addition to material concerns. The inevitable result of achieving this balance is longer display periods and the reluctant acceptance of potential fading. 

We propose that “lifetime fading allowances” be flexible to acknowledge that a particular object may have greater impact to the current generation than to a nebulous “posterity.” When “light” and “dissociation from social/trauma context” are given equal weight as agents of deterioration, the decision to keep light-sensitive objects off view resting in storage is not so straightforward. This is especially true if an object contains a fugitive material that will degrade in storage regardless.  

Conservators at the 9/11 Memorial Museum are working across departments to collaborate on a lighting policy unique to the needs our institution. These include staff resources; bespoke and inaccessible exhibition fixtures; and a lack of light-induced fading data for many of the unique and under-studied materials on display. As the factors weighing lighting decisions in traumatic contexts are not always straightforward, we are developing a decision tree to help parse out the questions bearing significance providing clarity to an otherwise daunting and subjective process. This talk will provide examples that highlight the nuances of this approach, including the identification of duplicate or similar objects as substitutions, or the creation of facsimiles, where physically and ethically feasible. As current caretakers, we acknowledge the privilege to make these subjective decisions that affect future generations’ ability to understand, display, and view these artifacts and the gravity and accuracy of their stories.

The stewardship and exhibition of cultural heritage collections demands careful balance between preservation, institutional mandates, and visitor experience. Conservators and curators at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CWF) have been refining tools and techniques for managing light exposure while navigating a range of factors that have impacted methods of implementation – creating challenges and providing new avenues for thinking about how our actions impact the collections in our care. Four of these factors will be discussed – institutional priorities, improvements to data collection and interpretation, impact on staff, and the role of visitors – with a brief discussion of future plans.   

With 35 galleries across two museums and limited staff, curators and conservators are regularly asked to extend exhibition periods beyond originally scheduled end dates. Institutional habits and staff resource availability have been the driving factor for exhibition decision making. The conservation team has increased efforts to incorporate data into exhibition planning conversations by tracking light exposure levels and durations for motion-activated lighting and measuring light-induced change through spectrophotometry.  These documentation activities are incorporated into long-standing exhibition practices. We are now able to introduce exhibit light budgets, based on this data, with a corresponding review triggered when the budget is near exhaustion. The predictive data from microfade testing is expected to further inform light budgets.   

Pressures to extend exhibition durations of sensitive media have a direct impact on staff. They express concerns about knowingly inducing significant change in collections. This has required a reframing of the language used to describe the impact of our exhibition policies, shifting from “damage” to “change”. Longer exhibition durations yield reduced opportunities for curatorial research and writing exhibitions. Collaborative conversations about exhibition lengths, initially framed around light levels and sensitivity of artifacts, have become a platform to advocate for limiting exhibition durations based on CWF’s mission as an educational institution and our preference to rotate objects or curate new exhibitions regardless of sensitivity of the media. Lack of long-term planning impacts how collections are treated. The perception of staff time being inordinately usurped by maintenance of light-sensitive media overrides consideration for the sensitivities of other object types like paintings and furniture on display in exhibitions not officially described as permanent.  

Historically, the visitor’s role in exhibition decisions has been based on assumptions. Staff now collect data on the use of light dosage limiting efforts, like motion activated or push button lighting, to better understand how visitors interact with exhibition spaces with low light levels. A new emphasis on visitor surveys provides valuable information to help us understand our visitors and their perceptions and preferences.   

The development of these policies is ongoing, with an eye toward addressing objects that have been on display for long periods of time. Bringing these discussions to the forefront makes us more collaborative in implementing decisions that balance preservation and access.

This paper will explore the outcomes and lessons learned throughout a four-year IMLS grant-funded collaborative conservation project at the Avenir Conservation Center of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. During the project, entitled Northwest Coast Collection: Building Bridges and Detailed Conservation Survey, we welcomed over 20 Indigenous representatives from five North American Tribes and First Nations to engage with their cultural heritage and participate in shared decision-making about conservation and care of 564 collection items. We found some common trends that spanned the groups across many topics, including how sensitive materials should be stored, tolerance of a significant amount of wear on objects that were made for use, and an acceptance of freezing items for pest prevention. There are also many examples of feedback unique to individual groups, such as one group’s interest in identifying original pigments and another group's strong desire to keep old museum labels adhered on objects. The project included two visits with a total of 14 Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation (Kwakwaka’wakw) community members from Gwa’yi (Kingcome Inlet, British Columbia); many of the visitors have direct familial ties to items in the DMNS collection, including parents and grandparents who made belongings in the collection. These visits demonstrated the power of expanding the participants beyond individuals who are accustomed to doing this type of work with museums. By including more representatives in the conversations, we were able to promote access to family treasures and facilitate discussions about future care for the items with the people who have the authority to make those decisions. The work with the representatives from Kingcome provided a different model for collaboration, as it became apparent that decision-making needed to be made at the family level for belongings that could be associated with a maker or owner. An important finding from the grant also included the importance of external collaboration between the museum and communities, as well as internal collaboration between museum departments to establish mechanisms for feedback from participants. In this project, the Museum’s Community Research and Collaboration department collected feedback from representatives during an evaluation session near the end of each visit. These sessions were an opportunity for visitors to candidly share what was successful during the visit, what could be improved, and what their hopes were for the future of the collaboration. The project has helped clarify what we can do as museum professionals to build trust and be better collaborators.

The US Navy Submarine Force Museum (SFM) and Historic Ship Nautilus (SSN 571) is the only museum in the United States where nuclear-trained US Navy Submarine Sailors and museum professionals have the opportunity to work together to care for a museum collection. Collections staff gain daily access to the foremost subject matter experts and cultural stakeholders of the collection, as well as exclusive insight into Sailors’ lives onboard submarines. Meanwhile our Sailors discover unique skills and a knowledge base they would otherwise not encounter in their Navy careers. Over time, this relationship has proven mutually beneficial, but it wasn’t always that way.  

Our presentation charts the evolution of this collaborative relationship via the trials and triumphs of our ongoing 100% collection inventory. Previously, civilian and military staff operated in isolation from each other. This changed in 2021 when Sailors volunteered to serve as liaisons between the civilian staff and the military command to ensure programming and collections work continued in the event of civilian furloughs. As our Sailors’ interest in museum work grew, we trained them on basic collections care and incorporated them into our inventory teams. Their extensive knowledge and “Sailor power” were welcome additions to the moving and processing of both large quantities of artifacts and just plain large artifacts. It is now a full-fledged collaboration that includes Sailors in artifact handling, conservation, exhibit planning, and programming. As the Sailors work with collections staff, their investment and pride in caring for the museum has grown, using their positions to streamline collections care and facilities management. Having a crew of thirty highly-trained and physically-fit Sailors as first responders to a collections’ emergency (e.g. fire, leaks, or loss of electrical power) takes a significant burden off the collections team. The Sailors are also the primary force behind maintaining and preserving SFM's most priceless artifact – Historic Ship Nautilus herself, the world’s first nuclear submarine and the only US Navy nuclear submarine available for public touring.  

The tangible benefits of collaboration have been invaluable to improving SFM in predictable ways, but what we never anticipated was our Sailors truly investing in learning how to better preserve their own heritage. We all have continued to grow and learn about the traditions, missions, and occasionally embellished history – “sea stories” – that make the US Navy Submarine Force a one-of-a-kind community. This is only a temporary duty in these Sailors’ careers, but they take this unique knowledge and skillset with them, applying it to other facets of their lives, whether at follow-on duties assisting with other heritage assets within the US Navy or in a volunteer capacity as civilians. This inventory has fostered skills and relationships that extend beyond the walls of SFM. This presentation is our chance to share our experiences, pass on our lessons, and spin our very own sea story. Or two.

The Nunalleq archaeological site is the ancestral home to the people of Quinhagak, Alaska, about 420 miles east and south of Anchorage, on the coast of the Bering Sea. The site consists of a large multi-room dwelling and dates from about 1450 to 1650 AD. It has numerous phases of re-building and modification over the years of occupation, before it was attacked and burned during the “Bow and Arrow Wars”, a period of warfare still remembered in oral histories today. Today’s residents of Quinhagak trace their ancestry to the site and to those who lived and died there. 

Until recently, the site has been amazingly well preserved by permafrost. But like countless others in the north, it is being destroyed by the combined effects of climate change. Since 2009, the Yup'ik village of Quinhagak has teamed with professional archaeologists and conservators with two primary goals: to rescue as many artifacts as possible and to train local community members in caring for their own history. To date, over 100,000 artifacts have been excavated, racing against winter storms and thawing permafrost, while also engaging younger generations to care for their own heritage. Today, the culture center cares for the largest collection of Yup’ik heritage made prior to Euro-American contact. 

For the past seven years, the Anchorage Museum has partnered with Qanirtuuq, Nalaquq, and the Nunalleq Culture and Archaeology Center in Quinhagak to support their heritage and culture work. Quinhagak Heritage Inc. (QHI) operates the cultural center, and Nalaquq coordinates the archaeological work each season. During the first 10 years, all of the artifacts were sent overseas to the University of Aberdeen (one of their partners) to be conserved. Since 2019, with Anchorage Museum collaboration, QHI and Anchorage Museum are helping keep the newly excavated artifacts in Alaska and preserve them locally, while also training members of their community to do this work. 

Museums are slow to change. If museums and the conservation field are to remain relevant, supported, and viable, we must reexamine our practices. The legacy of taking cultural belongings from communities cannot be ignored. Whether we have contributed to them or not, we have benefited from these colonial systems. Radical actions may be needed to affect change. Only through working closely with communities, and ensuring the control lies with those who have previously been ignored, will we be able to ethically preserve and steward collections. The collaboration between the village of Quinhagak and its many partners is a model for the future of conservation.

The conservation team at the National Museum of the American Indian strives to implement the Museum’s mission of service and partnership with its Native and Indigenous constituency, while acknowledging that we are continually learning how to effectively collaborate. The opening session presentation, given by our Head of Conservation, discussed in a broader sense the effective elements of collaboration learned over the years at the NMAI. It relayed how the spirit of collaboration, necessitates  operating in service to the collective goal, prioritizing the group’s objectives over individual agendas. Trust serves as the foundation for any collaborative endeavor and is built on consistent and transparent communication, reliability, and mutual respect. Humility, equitable power dynamic among all stakeholders, as well as truth recognition and an understanding of historical facts and present realities are essential. Power dynamics play a significant role in collaboration, balancing power among stakeholders ensures equitable participation. Access to relevant resources and open information sharing ensures well-informed decision making. Commitment follow-through and continuity are critical to maintaining trust, demonstrating reliability and sustainability supporting long-term impact. Preserving what is valued identifies and safeguards core principles, traditions, and goals essential to the collective identity and purpose of the collaboration.  

The NMAI has a long history of working with Indigenous communities and institutions throughout the Americas. Each engagement and partnership are unique with its own hurdles, successes and failures. During this presentation, we will take a closer look at our current, long-term collaborations and critically review their efficacies and frustrations. Through honest discussions with several current partners and colleagues, we hope to offer lessons learned that will contribute to and inform the larger goal of effective collaboration within our conservation community. While our partners will participate during the talk through prerecorded videos to respect their time and community commitments – acknowledging the difficulties attending the conference in person – we would like to offer a Q&A session with our colleagues remotely listening in following this talk.