CoOL

Environmental monitoring and control


Bibliographic resources
General resources
Temperature and Relative Humidity Guidelines
Microclimates, exhibit cases, etc.
Resources at other sites


Bibliographic resources

Selected print materials

The following are some core items that everyone should know

Appelbaum, Barbara
Guide to Environmental Protection of Collections, Sound View Press, Madison CT. 1991. ISBN 0-032087-16-7

Lull, William P.
with the assistance of Paul N. Banks
Conservation environment guidelines for libraries and archives, Ottawa : Canadian Council of Archives, 1995. 102 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes index. Issued also in French under title: Lignes directrices concernant les conditions de conservation ambiantes dans une bibliothèque et dans un dép“t d'archives.
Subject headings: Library buildings--Design and construction. Archive buildings--Design and construction. Library materials--Conservation and restoration--Planning. Archival materials--Conservation and restoration--Planning.

The museum environment, 2nd ed. London ; Boston : Butterworths, in association with the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1986. 293 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm.

General resources

The Chicora Foundation
Managing: The Museum Environment

Georgia State Archives
The Storage Environment

Tim Padfield
An introduction to the physics of the museum environment
This web-book in progress contains chapters on temperature, RH, light, environmental monitoring, etc.

The Role of Absorbent Building Materials in Moderating Changes of Relative Humidity. Ph.D. thesis

Indoor Air Pollution Working Group
Abstracts from presentations

"A two day conference entitled Museum Pollution : Detection and Mitigation of Carbonyls was held at Strathclyde University on the 17-18 June 1998. Over 30 delegates from the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and the US attended. Several carbonyl pollution issues were discussed and a number of actions were proposed. The year after the second meeting of the IAP Working Group Detection and Prevention of Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) was held at Instituut Collectie Nederland, Amsterdam"


Richard L. Kerschner and Jennifer Baker
Practical Climate Control: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography

Ellen McCrady
Indoor Environment Standards: A Report on the NYU Symposium, Abbey Newsletter, Volume 19, Number 6-7 Dec 1995

Museum & Galleries Commission
Serving Food and Drink at Events in Museums
Simple Guide to Protecting Conditionally Exempted Objects in situ from Extreme Heat, Damp and Light
Using Cut Flowers and Potted Plants in Museums

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Sarah S. Wagner
Cold Storage Handling Guidelines for Photographs, 1991

Alternative Archival Facilities
14th Annual Preservation Conference
March 1999)
Held on March 25, 1999,
at the National Archives Building
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

"NARA's Annual Preservation Conferences cover topics on the creation, use, exhibition, care and handling, duplication, and long term storage of information on paper, film, tape, and disk.

"The 1999 topic, Alternative Archival Facilities, covered underground storage; cold storage vaults; conventional freezers; adapted space, such as upgraded rooms or storage areas not originally intended for archival storage; and specially built, high-density depository structures where the material is stacked very high, expected retrieval is infrequent, and the building is so well insulated that little air conditioning is necessary. There are special challenges associated with each of these alternatives. For example, How does water drain from an underground room? What are the risks of fire and fire suppression in caves and high density storage areas?

"The following conference papers ... include standards, hints, tips, and models on how to utilize alternative space for the storage of archival and library materials."

Overview of Alternative Space Options for Libraries and Archives
by Paul Banks, Consultant
A survey of current alternative space utilization for archival and library materials.

Standards for Permanent Records Storage and Presidential Libraries
by Richard Judson, Engineer, NARA Space and Security Management
A review of NARA's new standards for Permanent Records Storage and Presidential Libraries.

High-Density, Cool Temperature Storage at the Library of Congress (LC)
by Doris A. Hamburg, Head, Preventive Conservation, LC
by Steven J. Herman, Chief, Collections Management, LC
Development and assessment of the preservation and access considerations for storing library materials in a high-density, cool temperature depository.

Adaptation of Underground Space
by Tom Benjamin, Vice President - Business Development, National Underground Storage, Inc.
An examination of the opportunities and challenges of keeping paper, film, and magnetic media in underground facilities.

The Realistic Preservation Environment
Ernest Conrad, P.E., President, Landmark Facilities Group
How small institutions can achieve proper environmental conditions for the storage of documents and books.

Building a Small Cold Storage Vault
by Robin Siegel, Conservator, National Geographic Society
A case study of a contractor-built cold storage vault within an existing structure.

The Cold Storage of Photographic Collections Using Conventional Freezer Technology
by Mark McCormick-Goodhart, Vice President, Old Town Editions, Inc.
A presentation of innovative techniques utilizing microclimate packages and the sealed cabinet approach.

Special Challenges - Fire and Fire Suppression
by Tom Goonan, President, Tom Goonan Associates
Warnings regarding the use of space not originally designed for the storage of archival and library materials.


Northern States Conservation Center
NSCC Environment page

Dale Peters
Our Environment Ruined? Environmental Control Reconsidered as a Strategy for Conservation, JCMS, May 1996

Fergus Read
Preventive Conservation

Donald K. Sebera
Isoperms--An Environmental Management Tool

Christoph Waller
Datenlogger zur Klimamessung, Dataloggers for climatic measurement (in German)
Der Einfluss von Luftfeuchtigkeit und Temperatur auf die Erhaltung von Kulturgut, The influence of air humidity and temperature on the preservation of cultural property (in German)
How to use ART SORB for the Preservation of Art
Klima - Einführung Climate - Introduction, (in German)
Klimamessung, Climatic measurement (in German) Klima im Gebäude, Climate in Buildings (in German)
Klimatisierung von Vitrinen und Depotschränken in der Praxis, Air conditioning of showcases and display cabinets in practice (in German)
Licht und Lichtschutz im Museums Light and light protection in the museum (in German)
Materialien und Geräte zur Klimatisierung von Vitrinen und Depotschränken, Materials and devices for air conditioning of showcases and display cabinets (in German)
Verpackung und Transport von Kunstwerken, Packing and transport of works of art (in German)
Reduzierung von Luftschadstoffen in Museen und Archiven, Reduction of air pollutants in museums and archives (in German)
Silica Gels, Molecular Sieves and Humidity Indicator Strips
Oxygen absorbers AGELESS, RP and RP-K, barrier films and sealing tools

Temperature and Relative Humidity Guidelines

Work of Smithsonian Scientists Revises Guidelines for Climate Control in Museums and Archives, Press release, Smithsonian Institution, Aug. 21, 1994.
This document spurred an enormous amount of discussion. Much of the following work refers to this press release.

Ellen McCrady
Temperature & RH Guidelines Challenged by Smithsonian: Comments and Editorial, Abbey Newsletter, Volume 18, Number 4-5 Aug-Sep 1994

William Schultz
CAL scientists revise guidelines for museum climate control
Allowable RH Fluctuations

William A. Real
Thoughts on CAL Press Release on Climate Control

Gustav A. Berger and William H. Russell
Letter to the Editor--WN Jan 1996

Charles S. Tumosa, Marion F. Mecklenburg, David Erhardt, and Mark H. McCormick-Goodhart
A Discussion of Research on the Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on Museum Objects, WAAC Newsletter 18-3, Volume 18, Number 3, September 1996

Barbara Appelbaum
Comments from a Conservator on Climate Control, WAAC Newsletter 18-3, Volume 18, Number 3, September 1996

Steven Weintraub
Revisiting the RH Battlefield: Analysis of Risk and Cost, WAAC Newsletter 18-3, Volume 18, Number 3, September 1996

CAL
Smithsonian Conference on Collections Environment, Abbey Newsletter, Volume 20, Number 3 Aug 1996


Microclimates, exhibit cases, etc.

Julie Creahan
Controlling Relative Humidity with Saturated Calcium Nitrate Solutions

Julie Creahan, Garry Thomson, Eric F. Hansen
Update and Feedback: Controlling Relative Humidity with Saturated Calcium Nitrate Solutions: Follow-Up Report: Calcium Nitrate Solutions for RH Control

Dennis Piechota
Humidity Control in Cases: Buffered Silica Gel versus Saturated Salt Solutions

Mary Todd Glaser, Steven Weintraub, and Ellen Marlatt
Bill of Rights Goes to Spain

Resources at other sites

M. George Craford, Nick Holonyak Jr. , and Frederick A. Kish, Jr.
In pursuit of the Ultimate Lamp, Scientific American, Feb. 2001.

Gigahertz Optik GmbH
Tutorials

Topics include


Indoor Air Quality in Museums and Archives (IAQ)
An on-line calculator for conversion between the gas concentration units ppb and mg/m3.

Morten Ryhl-Svendsen
Bibliography. Bibliography on indoor air pollution, detection methods, material deterioration, mitigation methods, case stories, etc., most of it in regard to indoor climate in museums/archives.
Brug af gode/dårlige materialer i udstillingsopbygning, from the annual meeting of Dansk Kulturhistorisk Museumsforening, 1997, (in Danish)
An Introduction to the Factors which Deteriorates Photographic Materials, and to Basic Preventive Conservation, from a West African Museum Programme Seminar, Senegal, 1999
Også kulturen kan få åndenød, from DANVAK Årsskrift 1999 (in Danish)
Pollution in the photographic archive - a practical approach to the problem, from the 9th international IADA Congress at The Royal Library, Copenhagen 1999
A review of methods to test construction materials, housing materials, etc., before use near museum objects or archival materials, April 11th, 2000.
A short selected list of literature. "Introducing the subject of indoor air pollution and its effect on museum objects."

Jean Tétreault
Display Materials: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, From "Exhibitions and Conservation", Pre-prints of the Conference held at The Royal College of Physicans, Scottish Society for Conservation and Restoration (SSCR), Edinburg, 1994
Repaint, repaint, and thin no more!--or Classification of coatings and Summary of coating recommendations

Barbara Vogt
Stability Issues and Test Methods for Ink Jet Materials Thesis, Department of Image Engineering, University of Applied Science, Cologne, May 2001.

Microclimate Research Unit, National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
Microclimate for Cultural Heritage, includes information about the work of the MRU (including bibliographic citations)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Outgassing Data for Selecting Spacecraft Materials Online

A searchable database of outgassing data of materials intended for spacecraft. Includes data on maximum total mass loss (TML) maximum collected volatile condensable material (CVCM). Categories: adhesives, cable insulation and shrink tubing, conformal coating, electrical components, electrical shields, films and sheet materials, foams, greases and lubricants, lacing tape and cord cable ties, laminates and circuit boards, marking materials and inks, miscellaneous, molding compounds, paints, lacquers, and varnishes, potting compounds, rubber and elastomers, tapes, thermal greases

Ozone Generators
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners: An Assessment of Effectiveness and Health Consequences

Federal Trade Commission
FTC Seeks Civil Penalties Against Ozone-Generator Firm over Air Cleaning in Violation of Prior Order


Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc.
Cold Storage
Includes Mark McCormick-Goodhart's "The Cold Storage of Photographic Collections Using Conventional Freezer Storage", 14th Annual National Archives and Record Administration Preservation Conference: Alternative Archival Facilities, National Archives in Washington, D.C, March 25, 1999.

University of California
California Weather Databases

The UC IPM California daily weather database stores both current and historical daily weather data for approximately 350 weather stations throughout California. The PestCast research weather database stores recent, detailed weather data collected in conjunction with the PestCast pest model research and validation project.


University of Minnesota Environmental Health & Safety
Mycological Aspects of Indoor Environmental Quality






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This page last changed: October 15, 2005