User:Nravenel/notes for Lexicon project

General Terminology

Conservation:

"The profession devoted to the preservation of cultural property for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care, supported by research and education."(AIC, 1996)

"Conservation: all measures and actions aimed at safeguarding tangible cultural heritage while ensuring its accessibility to present and future generations. Conservation embraces preventive conservation, remedial conservation and restoration. All measures and actions should respect the significance and the physical properties of the cultural heritage item." (ICOM-CC, 2008)

"The discipline involving treatment, preventive care, and research directed toward the long-term safekeeping of cultural and natural heritage. For actions taken to halt changes or deterioration in objects, sites, or structures, see "preservation (function)"; for changes made to an object or structure so that it will closely approximate its original or other past state, see "restoration (process)." (AATOnline ID 300054238)

"Active intervention by specialists to inhibit further deterioration of an object and stabilise it in its present condition. As a part of conservation, preventive conservation aims to prevent deterioration by acting directly on the environment of the collection." (UNESCO)

Examination:

"The investigation of the structure, materials, and condition of cultural property including the identification of the extent and causes of alteration and deterioration."(AIC, 1996)

Documentation:

"The recording in a permanent format of information derived from conservation activities."(AIC, 1996)

Treatment:

"The deliberate alteration of the chemical and/or physical aspects of cultural property, aimed primarily at prolonging its existence. Treatment may consist of stabilization and/or restoration."(AIC, 1996)

Stabilization:

"Treatment procedures intended to maintain the integrity of cultural property and to minimize deterioration."(AIC, 1996)

Remedial Conservation (see Stabilization)

"Remedial conservation - all actions directly applied to an item or a group of items aimed at arresting current damaging processes or reinforcing their structure. These actions are only carried out when the items are in such a fragile condition or deteriorating at such a rate, that they could be lost in a relatively short time. These actions sometimes modify the appearance of the items.

Examples of remedial conservation are disinfestation of textiles, desalination of ceramics, de-acidification of paper, dehydration of wet archaeological materials, stabilization of corroded metals, consolidation of mural paintings, removing weeds from mosaics." (ICOM-CC, 2008)

Restoration:

"Treatment procedures intended to return cultural property to a known or assumed state, often through the addition of nonoriginal material." (AIC, 1996)

"All actions directly applied to a single and stable item aimed at facilitating its appreciation, understanding and use. These actions are only carried out when the item has lost part of its significance or function through past alteration or deterioration. They are based on respect for the original material. Most often such actions modify the appearance of the item.

Examples of restoration are retouching a painting, reassembling a broken sculpture, reshaping a basket, filling losses on a glass vessel." (ICOM-CC, 2008)

"The process of making changes to an object or structure so that it will closely approximate its original state or other state at a specific time in its history." (AATOnline ID 300053742)

Preventive Conservation:

"Preventive Care (also referred to as preventive conservation): The mitigation of deterioration and damage to cultural property through the formulation and implementation of policies and procedures for the following: appropriate environmental conditions; handling and maintenance procedures for storage, exhibition, packing, transport, and use; integrated pest management; emergency preparedness and response; and reformatting/duplication." (AIC, 1996)

"Preventive conservation - all measures and actions aimed at avoiding and minimizing future deterioration or loss. They are carried out within the context or on the surroundings of an item, but more often a group of items, whatever their age and condition. These measures and actions are indirect – they do not interfere with the materials and structures of the items. They do not modify their appearance.

Examples of preventive conservation are appropriate measures and actions for registration, storage, handling, packing and transportation, security, environmental management (light, humidity, pollution and pest control), emergency planning, education of staff, public awareness, legal compliance." (ICOM-CC, 2008)

"Conservation aimed at preventing future deterioration of materials or artifacts, including providing suitable environmental conditions."(AATOnline ID 300229399)

Cultural Property:

Objects, collections, specimens, structures, or sites identified as having artistic, historic, scientific, religious, or social significance. (AIC, 1996)

Preservation:

The protection of cultural property through activities that minimize chemical and physical deterioration and damage and that prevent loss of informational content. The primary goal of preservation is to prolong the existence of cultural property. (AIC, 1996)

The maintenance of objects as closely as possible to their original condition through appropriate environmentally controlled collection maintenance, repair, and physical treatment. Refers to actions taken to prevent further changes or deterioration in objects, sites, or structures. When such actions are taken on buildings or other structures specifically for cultural, aesthetic, or historic reasons, see "historic preservation." (AATOnline ID 300105444)

Conservator:

A professional whose primary occupation is the practice of conservation and who, through specialized education, knowledge, training, and experience, formulates and implements all the activities of conservation in accordance with an ethical code such as the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. (AIC, 1996)

People responsible for treatment, preventive care, and research directed toward the long-term safekeeping of cultural and natural heritage. For those engaged in making changes to an object or structure in order to prevent further deterioration, see "preservationists." For those who make changes to an object or structure so as to closely approximate its state at a specific time in its past, see "restorers." (AATOnline ID 300102842)

Conservation Administrator:

A professional with substantial knowledge of conservation who is responsible for the administrative aspects and implementation of conservation activities in accordance with an ethical code such as the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. (AIC, 1996)

Conservation Educator:

A professional with substantial knowledge and experience in the theory and techniques of conservation whose primary occupation is to teach the principles, methodology, and/or technical aspects of the profession in accordance with an ethical code such as the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. (AIC, 1996)

Conservation Scientist:

A professional scientist whose primary focus is the application of specialized knowledge and skills to support the activities of conservation in accordance with an ethical code such as the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. (AIC, 1996)

Conservation Technician:

An individual who is trained and experienced in specific conservation treatment activities and who works in conjunction with or under the supervision of a conservator. A conservation technician may also be trained and experienced in specific preventive care activities. (AIC, 1996)

Collections Care Specialist:

An individual who is trained and experienced in specific preventive care activities and who works in conjunction with or under the supervision of a conservator. (AIC, 1996)

Condition Terms

The starting point for this list is the Condition and Effects Hierarchy in AAT.

• abrasion (condition or effect)(AAT, CAMEO)
• accretion (AAT, CAMEO)
• blanching (clouding condition)(AAT, CAMEO)
• blisters (AAT, CAMEO)
• bloom (cloudy condition) (AAT, CAMEO)
• blur(AAT)
• cleavage (AAT, CAMEO)
• cockle (AAT)
• color shift (AAT)
• <conditions and effects: architecture>

thermal bridges

• <conditions and effects: books>

opened uncut unopened

• <conditions and effects: electronic>

feedback (electronics)
pixelation

• <conditions and effects: glass>

crizzling (AAT, CAMEO uses the term glass rot to cover this and a number of other terms, but does not define this term)
solarization (glass) (AAT, CAMEO)

• <conditions and effects: leather>

red rot (AAT, CAMEO)
spew (AAT, CAMEO)

• <conditions and effects: metals>

bronze disease (AAT, CAMEO)
rust (AAT, CAMEO)
tarnish (AAT, CAMEO)

• <conditions and effects: paper>

deckle edges

• <conditions and effects: photography>

halation (AAT)
oxidative-reductive deterioration (AAT)
Sabattier effect (AAT)
silver mirroring (AAT, CAMEO uses the term "silvering" not illustrated)
solarization (photography) (AAT)

• <conditions and effects: printing>

crevé (etching effect)
foul biting
foul case
in register
offsets (printing effects)
out of register
plate marks

• <conditions and effects: textiles>

abrash (textile dye condition)
lazy lines
ombré
shot (textiles)

• <conditions and effects: wood>

blue stain (AAT, defined as "sap stain" in CAMEO)
brown rot (AAT)
dry rot (AAT, CAMEO)
soft rot (AAT)
white rot (AAT)

• corrosion products (AAT, CAMEO)
• cracks (AAT)
• creases (condition) (AAT)
• damage (AAT)
• dampness (AAT)
• defects (AAT)
• foxing (AAT, CAMEO)
• mildew (condition) (AAT, CAMEO)
• mold (condition)(AAT, CAMEO)
• patina (condition) (AAT, CAMEO)
• seam marks (AAT)
• shivering (AAT)
• spalling (AAT, "spall" in CAMEO)
• tears (condition) (AAT)
• wear (AAT)
• wrinkles (AAT)

Resources Cited

American Institute for Conservation (1996) Definitions of Conservation Terminology http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=620, accessed 22 September 2012.

AIC published conservation definitions in Newsletter volumes 4/4 (7); 20/2(10) and 21/3(15)

WAAC Newsletter published the definitions on the AIC website in 18/2 (May 1996)

International Council on Museums-Committee on Conservation (2008) Terminology to characterize the conservation of tangible cultural heritage http://www.icom-cc.org/242/about-icom-cc/what-is-conservation/#.UF4SU7RK422, accessed 22 September, 2012.

Art & Architecture Thesaurus® Online Getty Research Institute, accessed 25 September, 2012.

UNESCO's Safeguarding our Documentary Heritage - Glossary (English version), accessed 3 October, 2012.