from Delta-V Blog -
Lunar Self-Cleaning Material
go to article

Mimicking a naturally occurring surface coating for man-made structures - in there lies a solution to the preservation of outdoor cultural and heritage artefacts, surely.

See earlier post on self-cleaning coating technologies.
.

from Art 21 Blog -
Imaging Conservation at the Guggenheim: A Discussion with Carol Stringari
go to article

A glimpse into the work and ideas of the conservation profession. In particular, the pressing issue of "preservation" (as opposed to tangible restoration) of contemporary art.
.

Conservation Online back online!
go to new web-site

The invaluable resource for the conservation profession has been made accessible again by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation. Kudos to those involved and the tremendous effort in sustaining this initiative. One can only hope the next migration will not be too soon...
.

from The New York Times -
An Old Spanish Master Emerges From Grime
go to article

Yet, once again, the quality of an artwork (and proper attribution) is enhanced by appropriate and sensitive conservation work.
.

from The Guardian -
Digging deep
go to article
go to subject web-page

A case of ground-up knowledge activism, literally, which is a more sustainable approach to ensuring the long-term viability of archaeological work. Deep-pocket funding can often attract the "wrong" kind of attention and its share of fair-weather "champions".
.

from The Guardian -
Sound archive of the British Library goes online, free of charge
go to article

In the words of the library's curator, Janet Topp Fargion:

"This project is really exciting. One of the difficulties, working as an archivist, is people's perception that things are given to libraries and then are never seen again – we want these recordings to be accessible."

Hear, hear...
.

from National Museum Directors' Conference (UK) -
NMDC adopts guidelines to reduce museums’ carbon footprint
go to news post

With the greater awareness of how the implementation of museum preservation measures can often lead to very inefficient use of energy - and contributing to global environmental problems - museums in the UK have taken the first necessary step in acknowledging the issue and committing to implementing sensible guidelines to balance the needs of preservation and limited natural resources.

The 4 pertinent principles of the guidelines are:

- Environmental standards should become more intelligent and better tailored to clearly identified needs. Blanket conditions should no longer apply. Instead conditions should be determined by the requirements of individual objects or groups of objects and the climate in the part of the world in which the museum is located;

- Care of collections should be achieved in a way that does not assume air-conditioning or any other current solutions. Passive methods, simple technology that is easy to maintain, and lower energy solutions should be considered;

- Natural and sustainable environmental controls should be explored and exploited fully;

- When designing and constructing new buildings or renovating old ones, architects and engineers should be guided significantly to reduce the building’s carbon footprint as a primary objective.

See also:
Full document of NMDC guiding principles for reducing museums’ carbon footprint
Paper presented by Sir Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate, May 2008.
Paper by Mark Jones, Director, V&A

Link via IIC News.
.

from The Art Newspaper -
Civic Society Initiative launched in the UK, with added social networking tools
go to article

The news is not so much in the use of Twitter ... (oh, please...). Rather, the survival of civic societies (liken to your neighbourhood-sized National Trust) in the UK points to an ingrain sense of heritage and urban preservation - done at the local level and from the ground-up - which avoids all the pretensions of corporate-speak that has become the norm for heritage agencies, here and abroad.

See also Civic Society Initiative web-site and briefing paper (PDF format).
.

from The Guardian -
Scottish laser pioneers lead way in preserving world heritage treasures
go to article

There is still the nagging suspicion that once a monument has been "preserved" as data points from a scan - then efforts to maintain the actual site might lapse. After all, would not a digital copy be a more accurate and truer representation - so why bother?
.

from Technology Review -
Bone-setting Glue
go to article
go to video

A glue that works underwater - and is activated by the rise in pH level of the surrounding water when released. There must be a use somewhere in the conservation of heritage materials. And there must also be plenty of other examples of useful materials to be had from the weird and wonderful world of nature.
.