Preservation of Cultural Artifacts
From SPSU Wiki
This wiki page was written by the Johnson Library Archives and Special Collections to serve as a resource page for Professor Colebeck's Art Appreciation classes.
The preservation of cultural artifacts can take many forms. When seeking to preserve something for the future, it is important that those working with collections understand the difference between preservation, conservation, and restoration.
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Preservation
Preservation encompasses any measures taken to extend the usable life of materials in a collection. Preservation actions seek to prevent damage to objects as they are used, and to slow down the natural processes of deterioration of an object. The most common preservation measures are those involving the proper storage of cultural artifacts to ensure their longevity. Preservation does not correct any existing damage, but rather consists of preventative measures.
The Northeast Document Conservation Center provides an excellent online introduction to the subject in their Preservation 101 pages.
The Library of Congress makes its publications on preservation free to the public online as well.
The Regional Alliance for Preservation is an organization that provides a directory of preservation education opportunities and resources to those caring for collections. In Georgia, the Southeastern Library Network is one organization providing preservation education for those working in cultural institutions.
Conservation
Conservation and restoration are closely related but should not be confused with one another. While preservation seeks to prevent damage, conservation repairs or stabilizes materials through chemical or physical treatments. Conservation does not usually eliminate the existing damage to an object; rather, conservation seeks to halt further damage or deterioration.
Conservators are individuals possessing highly specialized knowledge and usually have a background that may include such diverse fields as chemistry and art history. Large museums and archives often employ a conservator full time, and may possess a conservation lab. Smaller institutions usually will hire an independent conservator as needed to work on individual items or collections needing conservation care.
The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works sets the standards for conservation training in the United States, including the undergraduate prerequisites for admission into a conservation training program. These programs can be quite diverse, and so it is important when hiring or contracting with a conservator to look into their background and previous work to ensure that the conservator is a good match for the project for which they are hired.
Restoration
Restoration, unlike conservation, seeks to return an object as closely as possible to its original condition. For instance, if a piece of antique furniture was given conservation treatment, the furniture would be stabilized from further deterioration, but may still retain its original worn finish. The original furniture finish may be historically significant, but unattractive. A restoration treatment for the same piece of furniture would including refinishing, and possibly repair any scratches or other signs of wear. The piece of furniture, when restored, may be more attractive and usable, but has now lost some of its historical context.
Both conservation and restoration are practiced in the care of cultural collections. It is up to the cultural collections workers to make the treatment decisions – whether to conserve or restore an object – depending on the individual item’s context within the collection, and how users of that collection wish to perceive the object.
View pictures and read an essay by a museum worker who decided to restore a Marconi Multiple Tuner at this link. This is a good example of restoration done by a cultural collections worker in a small museum.
View pictures and read an essay by professional art conservators who restored ancient paintings in a Tibetan monastery at this link. This is a good example of restoration done by professional conservators who utilized their knowledge of chemistry, materials native to Tibet, and reversible, non-damaging practices to restore an artwork while preserving its original context for the future.
Our Collections
At the SPSU Archives and Special Collections, preservation is approached from the viewpoint of Archival Science. The University hired its first archivist in September of 2005, and the construction of the Archives and Special Collections area of our library is not yet complete. Currently, the archives is arranging, describing, rehousing and providing preservation treatment for those items in our collection that we’ll one day be able to use as educational resources. The archive keeps a progress blog that updates every other week on progress that is made in arranging the collection for future use. Often these entries contain links to preservation information regarding our collections.
Like many collections, our holdings are in need of both preservation and conservation work.
Links to More Resources
Conservation Online, a resource for information regarding preservation, conservation, and restoration:
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/
Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology:
http://www.archivists.org/glossary/list.asp
Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Science, as outlined by the Society of American Archivists:
