The recent experiences & future needs of users of exhibit enclosures for local environmental control of indoor cultural heritage collections
| This global survey of users of display cases & glazed frames for environmental control of indoor heritage materials follows in the wake of national & international guidelines which recently revised climate targets. Continued attempts to counter a “one size fits all” approach to collections care, increasing concerns for ecological & economic sustainability & the aims of a group of lending museums have relaxed thermohygrometric set-points, i.e. acceptable daily & yearly temperature & relative humidity spans. The risks of these set-points to heritage collections & the benefits to ecological & economic resources are being debated. Meanwhile the guidelines point collections managers toward exhibit enclosures as long-recognised tools for locally controlling temperature & humidity; plus light, human interference, pests & gaseous & particulate pollution. |
But how fit for purpose are display cases & glazed frames for countering extreme & fluctuating temperature & water vapour levels, especially in view of more frequent extreme global weather events? Which types of enclosures & treatment & monitoring methods for enclosed atmospheres are presently used? Are they proven & efficient? What are their limitations & side-effects? Could advances be made in environmental control, while using green & affordable technologies? Could measurement & modelling of environments & enclosure envelopes be more widely exploited to predict and improve enclosure airtightness & conservation strategies? And can large & small museums alike deploy such approaches? This survey begins to answer these questions by taking a snapshot of the current behaviours & opinions of enclosure users. It will guide the future manufacture, testing and use of enclosures for more efficient & sustainable exhibit conservation. |
Display case user survey - James Crawford - UCL SEAHA conference July 2015
