You may be personally responsible for maintaining healthy conditions for your collections or beloved cultural heritage building, both as a result of your org chart and also your own personal sense of duty. But as the well-known saying goes…it takes a village to stay within temperature and humidity ranges. Let’s take a look at some […]
A data report is any type of documentation that describes an analysis of your data. It can be short and simple or quite complex, depending on the amount of data and the depth of your analysis. Reports are used to share information with partners who may not have access to the data, or who don’t […]
Once you have begun collecting data you are ready to set a timeline for environmental data analysis. Having a full year of data is ideal for preservation planning, but analysis can begin at any time – particularly if you are troubleshooting after a water incident or an equipment malfunction. Analysis doesn’t need to be complicated: […]
At CONSERV we care about collections AND the people who care for collections. We recently sat down with Chloe Richardson, the Collections Coordinator at the Matheson History Museum in Gainesville, Florida to talk about how she uses Conserv for monitoring temperature and humidity in historic buildings located in Florida’s most humid city. As a Gainesville […]
What data does an environmental monitoring program typically collect? The most often gathered data is for temperature (degrees), relative humidity (%) and light (lux). Temperature and relative humidity data can be gathered easily and inexpensively. Light data includes visible and UV light and can be gathered easily with the right equipment. Collect and review data […]
What is environmental data? Environmental data is any organized information that is gathered about the environment in which an object or artwork is stored, handled, or displayed. Such data is gathered to inform decisions, address problems, or answer questions. In most cases, the data is connected to one of the Agents of Deterioration. While monitoring […]
Water is a vital substance to all known forms of life on this planet, and a key ingredient in the production of many cultural heritage materials. Think of the large amounts of water that are required to make paper or tan leather. Water can also wreak havoc on collections in all its forms: solid, liquid, […]
Light is one of the trickiest Agents of Deterioration: it’s all around us, even when we can’t see it, and it’s what lets us appreciate everything around us visually. We need it and use it all the time so it seems almost unfair that it can also be really damaging. Light comes in different forms […]
Relative humidity is a measurement of the amount of water in the air. It is important to collection managers because the objects in our collections respond to relative humidity. Organic materials swell and shrink Organic collections (things like paper, cotton, ivory, or silk) will absorb and desorb moisture from the air resulting in a matching […]
Defining environmental goals – what are you looking to monitor? When setting up an environmental monitoring program one of the first questions to ask is what are you looking to monitor. Like with any program you need to have an idea of what you are trying to accomplish. Having an understanding about what your monitoring […]
