Wrapping and Waving

Tomorrow is the big day for turning in this assignment! It has been a fun process and I am polishing up the product for posting and submission. I hope to get this done and post the link up here later tonight. Wrapping up feels good, but I know there is always more to discover and learn, and that my research only encompasses a few perspectives. Perhaps this is what makes the hobby in general so much fun--there is always new things to learn and new stories to tell.

I find the information that I located is useful. I have revised my own methods and made plans for how I will practice conservation methods. I plan on acquiring some acid-free tissue paper and boxes for storage, finding a set of cotton gloves for handling sensitive items, monitoring temperature and humidity levels, and displaying/storing artifacts in locations free of the hazards discussed in my research. I also plan on communicating my information with others in the Preservation section of the online forums that I participation in. I will share my finished website for critical review and feedback. With luck, I will have further suggestions and resources to incorporate; at some point, someone may stumble across it and find something helpful listed there. I am not sure how interested someone will be in reading this blog that details every step of the Inquiry process, but I feel the website I am constructing will appeal to a narrow audience of interested collectors (with whom I identify). I do plan on posting a link to this blog on the website to show the steps to the research. I have listed my email for personal contact by anyone reading the website.

Below is a chart I produced with data that I collected from a week-long observation from Saturday, 2/27 to Friday, 3/5. Each morning and evening (approximately 9am and 9pm) I recorded the temperature and relative humidity in the area of my collection to observe the environment and record its stability. My goal is also to determine if I am within the recommended ranges: 70F +/- 4F for temperature, and a relative humidity of 45% +/- 8% (Mecklenburg & Tumosa, 2003).

I found that the average temperature was around 69F and relative humidity was 32%. The temperature was in the recommended range but the humidity was low; as a classmate noted, the cool weather that week likely led to low humidity. I wish I had noted the outdoor temperatures that week; I do see a correlation in the graph to higher temperatures (likely caused by adjustment of the thermostat) and higher humidity. This will be something to continue watching as the spring weather approaches.

I forgot to mention that I found another excellent resource last week. I located the Department of the Army regulation for museums and collections. I got to thinking about the US Army museums I have been to (most notably the museum at West Point) and wondering about their methods--and a simple Google search led me to their regulations. I gained some valuable and very specific information on conservation methods and insight into their philosophy on preservation. Their manual is cited on my website.