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Museum Care Books For Conservators and Museum Professionals

If you run a museum, you already know that regardless of how valuable collection your collection is, it is challenging to maintain and manage your museum. After all, you have to take care of the objects that are highly prone to deterioration as well as theft and damage. Then, showcasing your items appropriately to the visitors is the next challenge to deal with.

Museum care is a highly demanding field. It is a skill that can always be improved. Reading up on new methods will make you smarter and efficient at managing and preserving your museum collection.

Museum care books for conservators and museum professionals can help. It is one of the best and feasible ways to learn museum management and collection. In a field like museum care where past knowledge is excessively valuable, books prove to be a godsend.

Barbara Appelbaum is a renowned author of specialist books on museum care and management.

Counted among one of the eminent objects conservators in the USA, she has handled several notable projects such as George Washington’s leather portfolio, a Marcel Duchamp urinal, and a Marilyn Monroe dress.

Below, you will find the books for conservators and museum professionals written by Barbara Appelbaum. These books have been highly recommended by experts and readers alike. Here we finish up the list of three-just published books on museum and collection care that you should keep an eye out for.

Whether you are looking for preserving tips, wondering how to protect your museum collection from various environments, or you want to learn about conservation treatment methodology, there is something for everyone on this list.

Book I :

Preserve, Protect, and Defend: A Practical Guide to the Care of Collections

This book is a useful source for all museum professionals, whether you are curators, registrars, managers, administrators, or pest control expert.

In fact, it is also a great piece of info for someone with a private collection.

The book covers a wide range of topics such as:

Conservation assessments
Practical advice for examining collections and buildings to uncover collection safety issues
Routine collection safety practices
Preparing for the unexpected, including wind and water penetration, fire and smoke, and infestations;
Controlling the museum environment including temperature and relative humidity, light and lighting, and air quality.

This book also offers an insight into the world of museums and their staff. It presents the information in an easy language. This is a must-have book for everyone taking care of the collection as well as the buildings that house them. Ideal for museums of all sizes, libraries, and private collections!

Book II :

Conservation Treatment Methodology

Another wonderful book on museum care by Barbara Appelbaum!

It tells about a systematic approach to decision-making for conservation treatments. The book covers the methods that are applicable to all cultural property, independent of object type or material, and its use will enable conservators to be more confident in their treatment decisions.

Moreover, the book features several examples with illustrations to emphasize the equal importance of the physical and cultural aspects of objects for decision-making.

The book also explains how the history of an object and the meaning that it holds for its owner or custodian contribute to determining its treatment.

It is an important book for historic preservation specialists, restorers, conservators, and students. The book is written in a simple language, making it equally useful for art historians and museum personnel who work with conservators.

Book III :

Guide to Environmental Protection of Collections

This book is a must-have for anyone who cares for or about collections of historical artifacts, collections of art, or any other kind of cultural material or for natural history collections.

The lessons are presented in a simple language so that even a person with no technical background can easily understand the things.

So these are some Books for Conservators and Museum Professionals written by Barbara Appelbaum. Click here to shop now!

Collections are the most important resource of any museum. In other words, they are the lifeline of your museum. After all, these objects are what people visit your museum for. Therefore, taking care of your museum collection is downright essential.

Whether you are exhibiting fossils of the Neolithic age or the objects associated with human development, every item in your museum collections should be treated with respect and utmost care.

Here I have rounded up some best practices that will help you preserve your museum collections.

Creating a Culture of Responsibility:

Keep in mind that museum employees at every level are responsible for the care of the collection. Managers, curators, cleaners, and other staff should be equally concerned about collection care. The point is here that the responsibility shouldn’t be confined to certain staff roles. From creating budgets to keeping eye on pest activity, the whole museum team should be actively involved in preserving and maintaining museum collections.

Allotting Important Essential Care Tasks:

The next step is to plan ahead and create a strategy for assigning important care tasks.

In this context, the following points can be considered:

Organizing schedule for essential tasks such as rubbish collection and basic cleaning.
Setting up a procedural manual so every employee is aware of their responsibility of care.
Allotting a separate space for preparing, inspecting, and storing collections.
Creating a budget for purchasing collection care supplies.

Striving for Ongoing Care:

Taking care of your museum collection is not a one-time procedure. It is a continual process, requiring you to create a plan for proper ongoing care. Developing routines helps ward off issues before they even occur.

Keeping your museum clean and organized is important to maintaining the quality of your collection. Make sure to maintain a clean environment; take serious measures against pests and stress object-appropriate cleaning.

Handling Your Items Appropriately:

Make sure to handle your times appropriately to minimize the risk of damage.

Keep your hands clean and dry before handling items.
Use lifting equipment for heavy items.
Wear face masks or gloves for handling hazardous material.
Train your staff in handling procedures.

Packing and Unpacking:

Sensible, appropriate packing is important to protect your collections from damage. Poor packing of museum items can lead to long-term damage such as distortion and breakage and even cause insect activity and pollutant damage.

However, storage might be tricky for museum objects. For example, bubble wrap can protect and cushion items against shock. But it might not be ideal for damp conditions as it can trap moisture against the surface of the objects. Therefore, there is a need to choose optimal storage and packing solutions for your museum items.

If you are transporting your museum items, make sure to include written instructions on how to unpack them.

Learn from Books and Online Resources:

Some several websites and blogs can help you take care of your museum collection. However, I would like to recommend expertly written books dedicated to museum collection care.

My book titled “Preserve, Protect, and Defend: A Practical Guide to the Care of Collections” will guide you through the caring, preserving, and maintenance of your collection.

Similarly, I have covered a systematic approach to decision making for conservation treatments in my other book “Conservation Treatment Methodology.”

My third book “Guide to Environmental Protection of Collections” is a useful handbook that will help you make decisions concerning the physical care of those collections.

YOU CAN ORDER ALL THE BOOKS FROM THE LINKS GIVEN HERE!

So you must have understood how to take care of your museum collection.

What do you think? Let me know by commenting below!

Barbara Appelbaum Books