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12 pages, 1517 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Context, Development, and Intent: An Introduction to the IPI Preservation Metrics

by Emma J. Richardson, Marvin Cummings and Jean-Louis Bigourdan

Heritage 2023, 6(5), 4202-4213; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6050221 - 9 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1182

Supporting collections care professionals and facilities managers to understand their preservation environments is of increasing importance as the field of cultural heritage grapples with the competing demands of environmental and financial sustainability and the desire to broaden access to collections. As such, the [...] Read more.

Supporting collections care professionals and facilities managers to understand their preservation environments is of increasing importance as the field of cultural heritage grapples with the competing demands of environmental and financial sustainability and the desire to broaden access to collections. As such, the development of preservation indices that distill complex data into accessible tools can help collections care professionals understand the impact of access and preservation decisions and how they influence longevity. The IPI eClimateNotebook^® Preservation Metrics were some of the earliest dose-response models developed for preservation, linking the rates of degradation and physical deformation to environmental variables and material properties. In this review article, we revisit the original aims and applications of the IPI Preservation Metrics with a view to aiding their interpretation and practical application for managing collection environments alongside a discussion of their limitations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interpreting Environmental Data in Heritage Science)

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12 pages, 4047 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Climate Toolbox—A Microsoft^® Excel^® Based Tool for Assessing and Comparing the Effects of Internal Climates on Museum Artefacts

by Boris Pretzel

Heritage 2023, 6(4), 3745-3756; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6040198 - 15 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1309

Abstract

This paper describes the Climate Toolbox—a set of utilities for assessing and comparing real internal climates in terms of hazards they pose to museum collections. The Toolbox is a Microsoft^® Excel^® workbook with complex VBA codes optimised to process large datasets [...] Read more.

This paper describes the Climate Toolbox—a set of utilities for assessing and comparing real internal climates in terms of hazards they pose to museum collections. The Toolbox is a Microsoft^® Excel^® workbook with complex VBA codes optimised to process large datasets efficiently and quickly. The Toolbox takes user-provided climate data (up to 8000 sets of temperature, T, and relative humidity, rh, data) and characterises the climates in terms of critical parameters for stresses and mechanical damage, risk and magnitude of mould, relative permanence compared to (selectable) reference specifications, the proportion of data lying within and without selectable specification ranges, and the proportion of rh data swings exceeding a given magnitude. The interface is easily customisable, allowing users to input desired specification ranges, insert opening and closing times (to allow for different temperature specifications for periods when a space is open and occupied to when it is closed and empty), selectively change material critical strain parameters, and adjust the cycle periods for stress analysis. Results are summarised in a range of different graphical and tabular outputs and can be processed further to compare and rank spaces for their suitability to house different collections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interpreting Environmental Data in Heritage Science)

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24 pages, 3084 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysing Objects to Tailor Environmental Preventive Conservation

by David Thickett, Nicola Emmerson, Rene Larsen, Marianne Odlyha and David Watkinson

Heritage 2023, 6(1), 212-235; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6010011 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1854

Abstract

This work explores the potential of analyzing individual objects to improve their preventive conservation. Previously, environmental recommendations have been based on an average or worst response of material groups. Cultural heritage objects are extremely variable and within a group such as archaeological iron [...] Read more.

This work explores the potential of analyzing individual objects to improve their preventive conservation. Previously, environmental recommendations have been based on an average or worst response of material groups. Cultural heritage objects are extremely variable and within a group such as archaeological iron a very wide range of responses are shown. Characterizing a single object’s response allows its environment to be tailored to its requirements and can enable significant resource and carbon footprint savings. Three main approaches are considered with a material explored in detail including preventive conservation ramifications. Composition analysis is investigated through the stability of limestones. The critical concentrations of soluble salts causing surface deterioration in one environment has been explored. A more rapid method of analyzing clays in acid insoluble fractions from drillings and undertaking that analysis non-invasively has been developed. Measuring deterioration rates is explored through oxygen consumption analyses of archaeological iron. The distributions of previously published data are explored and the changes in rates examined. A scheme for parchment based on shrinkage temperatures and observations is presented for the first time and its use illustrated with a newly acquired letter. The type of work required to produce these schemes is explored with leather. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interpreting Environmental Data in Heritage Science)

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