SCHOOL OF INFORMATION
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
PROTECTION AND CARE OF RECORDS MATERIALS
INF 392F SPRING 2010
Unique number: 27965
Lecturer: Karen L. Pavelka
Meeting time: Thursday, 1:00 – 4:00
pavelka@ischool.utexas.edu
Meeting place: UTA 1.502
471-8286 (if no answer, 471-8290)
Office hours:
Thur. 11:00-12:00 or by appointment
Course Overview:
Protection and Care of Records Materials addresses general concerns about extending the useful lives of
material culture. The principal objective of the course is to develop an understanding of the technical aspects of
environmental control.
Areas to be covered are:
1. Assessing and controlling the environment.
2. Monitoring environmental conditions.
3. Risk assessment
4. Storage and handling of materials.
5. Disaster recovery.
Students will perform a general conservation assessment for a local library or museum. There will be one or more
tests, assignments and/or article reviews during the course of the semester.
General conservation assessment: A general conservation assessment is a summary of all the conditions affecting
the life of a collection in any given institution. They generally include information regarding: temperature, relative
humidity, integrated pest management, storage and handling, lighting, transport of collections, security, disaster
preparedness and other considerations. Normally the assessments incorporate a pre-survey questionnaire, a site
visit and follow-up questions as necessary. It generally requires a professional 1-2 workdays to write a report.
One class meeting will be scheduled to meet with the director and other staff of a University of Texas library.
Students will prepare a pre-survey questionnaire before the site visit. In deference to the professional demands of
library staff, please coordinate questions and meetings. The class is encouraged to work collaboratively but each
student will write his or her own general conservation assessment.
Grading
Grades will be based on the general conservation assessment (35%), tests and assignments (45%), and class
participation (20%).
Course policies:
1. The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified
students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641
TTY.
2. All assignments must be written in a gender-inclusive language.
3. All assignments must be typed in a 12 point font, double spaced and single sided.
4. Submit all your assignments on time. Late submissions will not be accepted unless an emergency is involved. In
the event of an emergency, the student must contact the instructor as soon as possible.
5. The instructor will provide any assistance upon the student's inquiry. However, the student is responsible for
his/her own effort to complete the assignments.
6. Students are required to attend class and to be on time. Any absence or lateness will affect the class
participation grade.
7. The instructor reserves the right to issue a course grade of F if any assignment is not completed.
8. The instructor welcomes feedback from the class.
2
Readings
Required text: Available on Amazon
Boersma, F., Brokerhof, A., van den Berg, S., & Tegelaers, J. (2008). Unravelling textiles: A handbook for the
preservation of textile collections. London: Archetype.
A reading list is given below, divided by topics. There is some overlap between topics, of course. Some readings
are indicated for certain classes; this is the minimum necessary for that class. Students are advised to skim the
resources on the list below. Not every reading will be of interest for every student and some of the material is
quite technical, but many of the works will be useful background information when you are writing your general
conservation assessment. The articles you choose will depend on the slant your survey takes.
Many of the readings below are copied onto Blackboard; some may be borrowed from the instructor. A few of the
readings will only be found in the library.
General
Appelbaum, B. (1991). Guide to environmental protection of collections. CT: Sound View Press.
Baryla, C. (Ed.). (2008, May). International Preservation News, (44). Retrieved from www.ifla.org/VI/4/ipn.html
Baryla, C. (Ed.). (2008, August). International Preservation News, (45). Retrieved from www.ifla.org/VI/4/ipn.html
Brokerhof, A., T. Luger, B. Ankersmit, F. Bergevoet, R. Schillemans, P. Schoutens, T. Miller, J. Kiers, G.
Meuthing, and R. Waller. 2005. Risk assessment of Museum Amstelkring: application to an historic
building and its collections and the consequences for preservation management. Pp. 590-596 in Preprints of
the ICOM-CC 14th Triennial Meeting, The Hague 12-16 September 2005. International Council of
Museums and James & James Publishers, London.
Cassar, M., & Pender, R. (2005, March). The impact of climate change on cultural heritage: Evidence and response.
14th triennial meeting, The Hague: Preprints ICOM Committee for Conservation, 14, 610-616.
Getty Conservation Institute, & Heritage Preservation. (1990). The conservation assessment: A tool for planning,
implementing and fund-raising. In CAP publications at your fingertips. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from
http://www.heritagepreservation.org/Update/03spCAPpub.htm
Hadlow, E. (2006, June). Sustainable storage? Western Sydney Records Centre, Stage 6. AICCM National newsletter,
(99), 25-26.
Jefferson, M. (Ed.). (2006, March). Cambridge’s newest conservation center. ICON News: The magazine of the
Institute of Conservation, (3).
Jones, M. (2008). Museums and climate change [Brochure].
Knight, B., Shenton, H., Daniels, V., France, F., Horie, V., Strlic, M., . . . Gibson, L. (2009). Advances in paper
conservation research (Monograph). Retrieved from British Library website: www.bl.uk/aboutus/
stratpolprog/ccare/events/index.html
Museum environmental conditions in an era of energy constraint. (2008). [Brochure].
NEDCC. (2008). Resources: Preservation leaflets. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from
http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets.list.php Thomson, G. (1994 or later). The museum environment.
London: Butterworths.
Wilson, W. K. (1995). Environmental guidelines for the storage of paper records. In NISO Standards. Retrieved
January 17, 2008, from http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/tr01.pdf
Walker, A., & Foster, J. (2009, February 6). Statistical tools for the evaluation of preservation (Monograph).
Retrieved from IFLA website: http://www.ifla.org/annual-conference/ifla75/index.htm
Planning
Bioletti, S. (2007). Collection preservation at Trinity College Dublin. In NPO e-Journal. Retrieved January 17, 2008,
from http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/ccare/pubs/2007/index.html
Risk Assessment
3
Brokerhof, A., Luger, T., Ankersmit, B., Bergevoet, F., Schillemans, R., Schoutens, P., et al. (2005, March). Risk
assessment of Museum Amstelkring: Application to an historic building and its collections and the
consequences for preservation management. 14th triennial meeting, The Hague, Preprints ICOM
Committee for Conservation, 14th triennial meeting, 590-596.
Waller, R., and S. Michalski. 2005. A paradigm shift for preventive conservation, and a software tool to facilitate
the transition. Pp. 733-738 in Preprints of the ICOM-CC 14th Triennial Meeting, The Hague 12-16
September 2005. International Council of Museums and James & James Publishers, London.
Waller, R. R. (2008). Cultural property risk assessment: Matching approach with purpose. In J. Bridgland (Ed.), 15th
triennial conference, New Delhi, 22-26 September 2008: Preprints/ICOM Committee for Conservation (pp.
815-819). ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Psychrometrics and HVAC
Carrier Corporation. (1993). Psychrometrics introduction [Brochure]. Carrier Corporation.
Maekawa, S., & Morales, M. G. (2006). Low cost climate control system for museum storage facility on Tenerife
Island. In PLEA 2006: 23rd international conference on passive and low energy architecture (pp. 411-416).
Geneva: Universite de Geneve.
Morooka, T., Homma, Y., & Norimoto, M. (2007). Criterion for estimating humidity control capacity of materials in
a room. Journal of Wood Science, 53(3), 192-198.
Padfield, T. (n.d.). Conservation Physics. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www.padfield.org/tim/cfys/
Padfield, T. (n.d.). How air conditioning works. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from
http://www.natmus.dk/cons/tp/aircon/aircon1.html
Watts, S., J. Berry, A. de Joia, and F. Philpott. 2002. In control or simply monitoring? The protection of museum
collections from dust and vibration during building works. Pp.108-115 in Preprints of the 13th Triennial
ICOM-CC Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, 22-27 September 2002 (R. Vontobel, ed.). James and James, London.
Biological Deterioration
Adverse human health effects associated with molds in the indoor environment. (2002). American College of
occupaitonal and envirnmental medicine. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from
http://www.acoem.org/guidelines.aspx?id=850
Arenstein, R. P., & Dincan, N. (n.d.). Museumpests [Web site]. Retrieved January 13, 2009, from
http://www.museumpests.net/default.asp
Child, R., & Pinniger, D. (2008). Using anoxia to kill insect pests: Methodologies and methods. In J. Bridgland
(Ed.), 15th triennial conference, New Delhi, 22-26 September 2008: Preprints/ICOM Committee for
Conservation (pp. 563-567). ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Dantigne, P. (2007, July). Preservation of books, pictures, fabrics and others from mould spoilage. International
preservation news: A newsletter of the IFLA Programme on Preservation and Conservation, (41), 19-21.
European Commission on Preservation and Access. (n.d.). A virtual exhibition of the ravages of dust, water, moulds,
fungi, bookworms and other pests. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/expo.htm
Florian, M.-L. E. (2002). Heritage eaters: Insects & fungi in heritage collections. London: James & James.
Friedman, D. (2005, September 23). Mold “Testing” - Examining the validity of current indoor mold sampling
techniques. In Building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair. Retrieved January 23, 2008,
from Home Inspection & Construction Information Website Web site: http://www.inspectny.com/sickhouse/SampMeth.htm
Guild, S., & MacDonald, M. (2004). Mould prevention and collection recovery: Guildelines for heritage collections.
CCI Technical Bulletin, 26.
Price, L. (1994). Mold. Managing a mold invasion: Guidelines for disaster response [Brochure]. Philadelphia:
CCAHA.
Disaster Preparedness and Response
4
Disaster preparedness and response. (2007, March 6). Conservation on line. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/disasters/
Heritage Emergency National Task Force. (2009). [Brochure]. Heritage Preservation.
Jensen, G. (2006). Miiniimum Iinvasiive fiire detectiion (Monograph). Scotland: Riksantikvaren the Norwegian
Directorate for Cultural Heritage.
Only the Table of Contents and Title Page are available here.
Mainella, F. P. (2006, Winter). The National Park Service and its partners taking action in the Gulf Coast and around
the country. Forum Journal, 20(2), 11-16.
Matthews, G. (2006, May). Disaster management research. NPO e-journal, (4). Retrieved from
http://www.bl.uk/services/npo/journal/4/disaster.html
Matthews, G. (2006, May). Disaster planning: REDS all over the land? NPO e-journal, (4). Retrieved from
http://www.bl.uk/services/npo/journal/4/matthews.html
NEDCC. (2008). Disaster planning: d Plan. In About NEDCC: News. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from
http://www.nedcc.org/about/news.dplan.php
Zombie Attack: Disaster preparedness Spsimulation exercise #5 (DR5). (n.d.). [Brochure]. University of Florida.
Pollutants
Grzywacz, C. M. (2006). Tools for conservation. Monitoring for gaseous pollutants in museum environments. Los
Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute.
Hamann, B. (2006, Spring). Testing cultural material for arsenic and interpreting the results: A case study at
Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Collection Forum, 20(1-2), 13-22.
Lloyd, H., Brimblecombe, P., & Lithgow, K. (2007). Economics of dust. Studies in Conservation, 52(2), 135-146.
Nguyen, T.-P., & Dubus, M. (2007, July). The National Library of France: Indoor air pollution in the storage rooms as
a consequence of an ill-suited air purification system. International Preservation News: A Newsletter of the
IFLA Programme on Preservation and Conservation, (41), 14-18.
Ormsby, M., Johnson, J. S., Heald, S. C., Chang, L., & Bosworth, J. (2006, Spring). Investigation of solid phase
microextraction sampling for organic pesticide residues on museum collections. Collection Forum, 20(1-2),
1-12.
Palmer, P., Martin, M., Wentworth, G., & et al. (2006, Spring). Pesticide contamination on Native American
artifacts: Methods, results from sis case studies, and next steps. Collection Forum, 20(1-2), 23-32.
Rhyl-Svendsen, M. (2006). Indoor air pollution in museums: Prediction models and control strategies. Reviews in
Conservation, 7, 27-41.
Exhibits
Thickett, D., Stanley, B., & Booth, K. (2008). Retrofitting old display cases. In J. Bridgland (Ed.), 15th triennial
conference, New Delhi, 22-26 September 2008: Preprints/ICOM Committee for Conservation (pp. 775782). ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Thorn, A. (2008). Vibration impact: Methods and results of some recent studies. In J. Bridgland (Ed.), 15th triennial
conference, New Delhi, 22-26 September 2008: Preprints/ICOM Committee for Conservation (pp. 783790). ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Light Damage
Morris, Hannah R. & Whitmore, Paul M. (2007). “Virtual fading” of art objects: Simulating the future fading of
artifacts by visualizing micro-fading test results. JAIC 46(3), 215-218.
Saunders, D., & Kirby, J. (2008). A comparison of light-induced damage under common museum illuminants. In J.
Bridgland (Ed.), 15th triennial conference, New Delhi, 22-26 September 2008: Preprints/ICOM Committee
for Conservation (pp. 766-774). ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Richardson, C., & Saunders, D. (2007). Acceptable light damage: A preliminary investigation. Studies in
Conservation, 52(3), 177-187.
5
Class Schedule
Week 1 January 21
Introduction and overview of the course.
Assignment: Visit the Geology Library; write a one page summary of the conditions you find. Cite both positive
and negative factors. Due January 28 in class
Week 2 January 28
Discuss initial assessment of Geology library
Readings
Boersma; chapters 1 &2.
Week 3 February 4
Psychrometrics: Temperature and Relative humidity interaction
Measurement and instrumentation
Readings
Boersma; chapter 3
Carrier
Week 4 February 11
Light; measuring and controlling
Readings
Boersma; chapter 4
Test: Psychrometric chart
Week 5 February 18
Pollutants; gaseous and particulate
Readings
Grzywacz; (Scan)
Week 6 February 25
Guest lecturer: Joe Reyes, engineer
Readings
Padfield; How air conditioning works
Week 7 March 4
Guest lecturer: Tom Flowers
**Class will meet at Blanton**
Readings
Boersma; chapters 6, 8 & 11.
Week 8 March 11
Harvard depository model
Fire suppression
Readings
The Harvard Depository http://hul.harvard.edu/hd/pages/facility.html
Spring Break March 14 - 20
Week 9 March 25
Cleaning up after a disaster
Mold removal
Health and safety
6
Readings
Boersma; chapter 12
Week 10 April 1
Discuss pre-survey questionnaire
Integrated Pest Management
Readings
Sample surveys
Getty; A tool for planning
Assignment: Pre-surey questionnaire will be sent to Dennis Trombotore by April 8. He will return it to me by
April 15.
Week 11 April 8
Tour State Archives
Sent Sarah a message January 10.
Week 12 April 15
Designing a monitoring program
Week 13 April 22
Tour Geology Library
Week 14 April 29
Discuss site visit
Week 15 May 6
Risk management. Future of the field.
Readings
Waller