Collections Management
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Below is an essay written by Autumn Smith on issues and ethics in Collection Management in Museums.
How Should Museums Deal With Contaminated Cultural Materials in Museum Collections?
Artifacts and documents help bring to life the stories museum and historical institutions tell for public consumption. Museums and historical institutions also have the responsibility of preserving documents and artifacts related to historically significant events and people. Artifacts and documents are apart of an institution's collection that requires preservation of its holdings. Preservation of a collection is vital to the sustainability and use of a collection, which is the core of a museum's ability to tell a story. Cultural materials play a significant role in the museum's ability to tell the stories of cultures wearily documented throughout history. United States history has been historically documented from a Eurocentric perspective that has been consistent with omissions and alternative facts to actual events and people. The history of Indigenous people in America has been manipulatively documented scholastically and in pop culture, but the presence of artifacts help to gain historical accuracy when displaying information. Cultural materials have the potential to have been contaminated, which can cause issues in the presentation of information. Museums have the responsibility to prevent contamination to the best of the institution's ability by implementing preventative care measures and proper deaccessioning.
Contamination of artifacts and documents is inevitable to happen to items as they are housed in collections. The contamination of artifacts can occur easily and frequently through various forms. "Contaminants damage all objects through disintegration, discoloration, and corrosion." 1 The most common contamination that effects collection is the accumulation of dust particles. This form of contamination is the simplest to contain but can be the most difficult to prevent. Air-filtering systems can be used to clean the incoming air and clean contaminated air from polluted gas. Chemical contamination is frequently challenging to reverse and inevitably impossible to prevent objects that off-gas themselves. Contamination even happens when touching artifacts and documents, as the oil from human hands causes stains and corrosion. "As a regular part of object handling, staff should be encouraged to wash their hands and required to wear appropriate gloves." 2
Museums and historical institutions should have preventative care measures as basic museum standards put in place for collections management. The accessioning process for collection management should include the consideration of preservation measures that an item will require. The main focus of contamination prevention is to limit contact between the contaminant and object. Collections Management states,"The primary response to potential damage from pollutants is the minimization or elimination of contact, either by creating a physical barrier between the object and pollutants or by chemically altering the rate of deterioration through increased exposure to reactive compounds."3 Artifacts can be preserved through isolation with materials that are designed to perverse artifacts such as neutral tissue or archival boxes. When contamination such as water damage occurs to documents, items such as neutral tissue can be vital as it can aid in the prevention of further damage to the document.
When artifacts have been contaminated, necessary action is to isolate the item and create new storage that is conducive to the new conditions of the contaminated item considering light exposure, levels of temperature, and air condition. "The rate of deterioration can be slowed by protecting collections from improper levels of temperature, relative humidity, and light." 4 When artifacts have been contaminated, they have must be cared for in a different manner than their previous conditions. Items have to become prioritized because of the contaminated conditions. The Declaration of Independence is a contaminated document, with continues fading, that requires constant preservative measures on a reoccurring basis. The cultural sensitivity and significance to United States history, the document requires extensive preservation methods beyond standard capacity.
Often museums are faced with the realities of having to remove items from their collection because of contamination. When contamination has become too extensive with an item that museums are not equipped to contain, those items must be removed from the collection. Museums and historical institutions sometimes do not have the funding needed for equipment for preservation. Collection managers should evaluate the significance of the contaminated object to determine if restoration is necessary or it is discarded. Contaminated objects should be adequately deaccessioned following the standards and protocols of the museum or institution after contaminated cultural artifacts are properly deaccessioned from a collection they should be given to an institution that can adequately preserve the artifacts that align with the missions and goals. Museum collections have a responsibility to the public to preserve and present history and culture, so to discard items that are considered culturally significant is an ethical flaw.
Cultural artifacts are significant in the presentation of history in museums and historic institutions that can become contaminated. The contamination of artifacts in collections is in different forms, with different levels of severity that should be contained to an institution's best ability. Cultural artifacts help tell the sides of history that have not been heavily historically documented. Preventative care measures and proper deaccessioning are the standards needed to deal with contaminated cultural materials in museum collections.
Artifacts and documents help bring to life the stories museum and historical institutions tell for public consumption. Museums and historical institutions also have the responsibility of preserving documents and artifacts related to historically significant events and people. Artifacts and documents are apart of an institution's collection that requires preservation of its holdings. Preservation of a collection is vital to the sustainability and use of a collection, which is the core of a museum's ability to tell a story. Cultural materials play a significant role in the museum's ability to tell the stories of cultures wearily documented throughout history. United States history has been historically documented from a Eurocentric perspective that has been consistent with omissions and alternative facts to actual events and people. The history of Indigenous people in America has been manipulatively documented scholastically and in pop culture, but the presence of artifacts help to gain historical accuracy when displaying information. Cultural materials have the potential to have been contaminated, which can cause issues in the presentation of information. Museums have the responsibility to prevent contamination to the best of the institution's ability by implementing preventative care measures and proper deaccessioning.
Contamination of artifacts and documents is inevitable to happen to items as they are housed in collections. The contamination of artifacts can occur easily and frequently through various forms. "Contaminants damage all objects through disintegration, discoloration, and corrosion." 1 The most common contamination that effects collection is the accumulation of dust particles. This form of contamination is the simplest to contain but can be the most difficult to prevent. Air-filtering systems can be used to clean the incoming air and clean contaminated air from polluted gas. Chemical contamination is frequently challenging to reverse and inevitably impossible to prevent objects that off-gas themselves. Contamination even happens when touching artifacts and documents, as the oil from human hands causes stains and corrosion. "As a regular part of object handling, staff should be encouraged to wash their hands and required to wear appropriate gloves." 2
Museums and historical institutions should have preventative care measures as basic museum standards put in place for collections management. The accessioning process for collection management should include the consideration of preservation measures that an item will require. The main focus of contamination prevention is to limit contact between the contaminant and object. Collections Management states,"The primary response to potential damage from pollutants is the minimization or elimination of contact, either by creating a physical barrier between the object and pollutants or by chemically altering the rate of deterioration through increased exposure to reactive compounds."3 Artifacts can be preserved through isolation with materials that are designed to perverse artifacts such as neutral tissue or archival boxes. When contamination such as water damage occurs to documents, items such as neutral tissue can be vital as it can aid in the prevention of further damage to the document.
When artifacts have been contaminated, necessary action is to isolate the item and create new storage that is conducive to the new conditions of the contaminated item considering light exposure, levels of temperature, and air condition. "The rate of deterioration can be slowed by protecting collections from improper levels of temperature, relative humidity, and light." 4 When artifacts have been contaminated, they have must be cared for in a different manner than their previous conditions. Items have to become prioritized because of the contaminated conditions. The Declaration of Independence is a contaminated document, with continues fading, that requires constant preservative measures on a reoccurring basis. The cultural sensitivity and significance to United States history, the document requires extensive preservation methods beyond standard capacity.
Often museums are faced with the realities of having to remove items from their collection because of contamination. When contamination has become too extensive with an item that museums are not equipped to contain, those items must be removed from the collection. Museums and historical institutions sometimes do not have the funding needed for equipment for preservation. Collection managers should evaluate the significance of the contaminated object to determine if restoration is necessary or it is discarded. Contaminated objects should be adequately deaccessioned following the standards and protocols of the museum or institution after contaminated cultural artifacts are properly deaccessioned from a collection they should be given to an institution that can adequately preserve the artifacts that align with the missions and goals. Museum collections have a responsibility to the public to preserve and present history and culture, so to discard items that are considered culturally significant is an ethical flaw.
Cultural artifacts are significant in the presentation of history in museums and historic institutions that can become contaminated. The contamination of artifacts in collections is in different forms, with different levels of severity that should be contained to an institution's best ability. Cultural artifacts help tell the sides of history that have not been heavily historically documented. Preventative care measures and proper deaccessioning are the standards needed to deal with contaminated cultural materials in museum collections.