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. However, water damage can also wreak...
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....
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,...
Defining environmental monitoring goals – what are you looking to understand about your collection? 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...
The agents of deterioration (AoD) is a tool developed by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI). Inspired by risk management, the AoD can provide those responsible for collection care with a checklist of things that can cause loss to their collections. Agents of...
Understanding the environment your collections are housed in is not a new concept. Curators and collectors have historically recognized that things like sun exposure, moisture levels, and heat can cause significant damage to items meant to be preserved for ages. For...
