Guideline 8.5

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Back to STANDARD 8: Exhibit Conservation Requirements

Guideline 8.5:
The Conservation Requirements must be summarized in writing and provided to the exhibit team to guide hazard mitigation strategies for exhibit objects.

How should the Conservation Requirements be documented?

A written document is the most effective means of communicating the exhibit’s Conservation Requirements to the exhibit team. The document should describe in sufficient detail the protection required for each object. It should also include a summary of the overall requirements. This could be provided in the form of a statistical analysis stating the percentage of objects requiring a certain type of protection; for example, the percentage of objects requiring extremely controlled lighting versus the percentage requiring moderately controlled lighting.

The Conservation Requirements should always provide sufficient information to communicate the level of protection needed for each object; the format, however, may vary from project to project. Approaches include:

• Ten Agents of Deterioration: The conservator indicates the level of protection an object requires from each of the nine agents of deterioration while on exhibit.

1. Direct Physical Forces

2. Thieves, Vandals, Displacers

3. Fire

4. Water

5. Pests

6. Contaminants

7. Light

8. Incorrect Temperature

9. Incorrect Relative Humidity

10. Custodial Neglect

• Narrative Description: The conservator provides a more narrative description of the type of protection required, such as advising the designer to place certain objects in a sealed case that will reduce their exposure to fluctuations in relative humidity.

Conservation Requirements Form

• Exhibit Conservation Requirements Form: Preservation requisites that require mitigation. A conservator can use this form to indicate the level of protection an object needs from each of the nine agents of deterioration.