Preventive Conservation, Conservation, Restoration, and Preservation

In my previous entry I said that there was a difference between preservation, conservation, preventive conservation, and restoration. Because that was for an article for a newspaper I really didn’t have time to go into the specifics of how they are different and how they are related but that is one of the reasons I started this blog. I not only wanted to give people a glimpse of our collection and what I do but I wanted a place to explain museum operations. Many people seem interested in museums and what they do but not many can say exactly what museum employees do. So in this article I am going to talk about preventive conservation, conservation, restoration, and preservation.

These were terms that I learned about as a Museum Science student at Texas Tech University and they are also terms that were reviewed at the Conservation Workshop that I just attended in Roswell sponsored by the New Mexico Association of Museums, IMLS, and Heritage Preservation. Preventive conservation is the most general term of the four. It does not necessarily mean treating an object in any way, but rather treating the environment. The ultimate goal is to avoid and block the agents of deterioration in order to prolong the life of a museum’s collection and/or object. Agents of deterioration are common and cannot really be completely blocked but risks can be minimized and with proper concern and care an object can stay stable far longer than with no care at all. The agents of deterioration are: temperature, humidity, light/radiation, thieves/vandals, particulates, water, fire, pests, and physical force. The act of preventive conservation can include many options in order to protect museum objects. For example, to block ultra violet radiation which can cause color fading among other things, you can put UV filters on fluorescent light bulbs and on windows. Other preventive conservation tips include: closing doors tightly when entering a space to keep dust out, not bringing food into collections or exhibit areas, and watching where you are going so as not to bump into anything. Preventive conservation is everyone’s responsibility. The definition given to us at the Conservation Workshop (taken from the American Institute for Conservation [AIC]) talks about setting up policies and procedures for “appropriate environmental conditions; handling and maintenance procedures for storage, exhibition, packing, transport, and use.” No matter where the objects may be, it is our responsibility to enact preventive conservation.

Conservation is a part of preventive conservation but focuses more on the object itself rather than the environment. It involves treating and stopping deterioration on/in an object. Conservation, therefore, is a more specific term whereas preventive conservation is more general. Conservation is a scientific and aesthetic discipline where they study the means of deterioration in order to treat an object and it uses practices that are always reversible. As conservators have told me, they are not trying to deceive visitors by hiding the treatments but from far away the treatments should not be too noticeable. Treatment of objects can get very expensive and sending an object to a conservator seems to be a last ditch effort which is why preventive conservation is so important. With preventive conservation we can hopefully prevent having to have a conservation treatment done but there are always unforeseen circumstances. The definition from the AIC states that conservation is “the profession devoted to the preservation of cultural property for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, designing preventive care measures, all of which are supported by research and education and are carried out by trained professional conservators.” The AIC also states that conservation treatment is “the deliberate alteration of the chemical and/or physical aspects of cultural property, aimed primarily at prolonging its existence.”

Restoration, unlike conservation, however, is not reversible and is not necessarily concerned with treating deterioration. Rather, restoration is the act of taking an object back to its original state or that of a predetermined assumed state. This can include changing the look and/or structure of an object or building probably by using non-original materials. For example, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park went through many battles and floods which mean that the buildings in Lower Town had seen better days when the National Park Service got a hold of them in 1944. In order to create the historic atmosphere desired the staff chose a time period and restored the buildings to what they would have been like in that specific time period. This is just one example of what restoration can do. Restoration, like conservation, is really a specialized discipline and takes years of training.

Finally, preservation is another more general topic as it relates to most of the terms described above. Preservation uses preventive conservation and conservation in order to prolong the life of an object. Restoration can even be used to preserve an object because it takes that object back to a previous state which ultimately should prolong its life. The term “object” might refer to objects in a museum collection, buildings in a historic town, or even to the land itself. The AIC defines preservation as “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.”

Museums, therefore, employ all of these terms to care for their objects. The two most ideal things to use are preservation through the use of preventive conservation because conservation and restoration require a specialist and can be very costly. Preventive conservation can also be costly because some techniques include the use of archival materials but in the end it is cheaper than hiring someone to conserve or restore an object. I hope that this entry has helped to explain the difference and relationship between preventive conservation, conservation, restoration, and preservation. If you want more information please check out the AIC website: http://www.conservation-us.org/.