Collection Care

Preventive Care is defined as “actions taken to minimize or slow the rate of deterioration and to prevent damage to collections; includes activities such as risk assessment, development and implementation of guidelines for continuing use and care, appropriate environmental conditions for storage and exhibition, and proper procedures for handling, packing, transport, and use. These responsibilities may be shared by collection managers, conservators, subject specialists, curators and other institutional administrators.”

AIC's Code of Ethics states “The conservation professional shall recognize a responsibility for preventive conservation by endeavoring to limit damage or deterioration to cultural property, providing guidelines for continuing use and care, recommending appropriate environmental conditions for storage and exhibition, and encouraging proper procedures for handling, packing, and transport.”

It is now widely recognized by preservation professionals that no matter how large their budget, resources will always be stretched to cover all collections priorities and so ‘an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure’ i.e. money spent proactively on preventive care is the most efficient way to preserve an entire collection for the long-term rather than acting reactively and paying for conservation treatment to repair damage and deal with deterioration that has already occurred. Taking proper care of even a small to medium sized collection can seem like an infinite job and an active approach to preventive care is the best way to spread finite resources.

AIC's Preventive Care Network (PCN) - formerly Collection Care Network (CCN)- was created in recognition of “the critical importance of preventive conservation as the most effective means of promoting the long-term preservation of cultural property” (Guidelines for Practice of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, #20) and preventive care information on the AIC wiki aims to support the growing number of conservators and collection care professionals with strong preventive responsibilities and interests.

In response to feedback from the AIC membership, the network formally changed its name to the Preventive Care Network (PCN) in Fall of 2022. This is in recognition of the growth of preventive conservation as a specialty, while acknowledging our continued commitment to serve as a home for all of our allied professionals.

Wiki contributors: Kelly Krish, Rachael Arenstein, Becky Kaczkowski, Laura Resch

Introduction to Preventive Conservation

Preventive conservation can be considered a tiered approach to care, where the building enclosure serves as the outer protective shell and subsequent levels (i.e. the room and storage furniture) provide increasingly intimate layers of protection and support to further shield objects from agents of deterioration. Building conditions, the location of collections within, and the specific nature and collections condition will determine how each layer influences the next and shields collections from one or many agents of deterioration.

References

https://www.connectingtocollections.org/recording-community-webinar-making-the-most-of-the-storage-you-have/

https://www.connectingtocollections.org/creativerecording/

http://resources.conservation-us.org/collection-storage/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2015/11/Storage-Book-Brochure-May2016.pdf

https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v02/bp02-08.html

http://resources.culturalheritage.org/pmgtopics/2013-volume-fifteen/01-T15_Held_Burge_Nishimura.pdf

https://stashc.com/

https://cool.culturalheritage.org/waac/wn/wn10/wn10-3/wn10-302.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/precautions-storage-areas.html

https://www.nps.gov/museum/coldstorage/html/intro1_1.html