Guide to Environmental Protection of Collections

Guide to Environmental Protection of Collections

• The term conservation embodies three activities: analysis, treatment, and preservation. The subject of this book is the activity of preservation. One act of carelessness or purposeful destruction can end an object's existence; hundreds of individual acts of caring repeated over decades and even centuries are required to assure its survival.

This book is intended for use by anyone who cares for or about collections of art, historical artifacts, or any other kind of cultural material, or for natural history collections. It is written for those with no technical background who find themselves in the difficult position of having to make decisions concerning the physical care of the collections. This includes owners of private collections, museum curators, registrars, and administrators.