As my "about me" section states, I love the city of Richmond. The rich and deep history that is all around us is inpsiring and thought provoking. I live in an old house just a few blocks from where Patrick Henry gave his famed "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. I constantly find myself thinking about how life was at that time in my neighborhood, and it absolutely fascinates me. There is a tremendous amount of history throughout our state, and I had the opporunity to spend some time with an organization that is doing a fantastic job preserving the history of their town and educating others in the process. It was a great experience on many levels. Professionally, I enjoy the opportunity to meet with a potential client and learn about their operation and if there is something I can recommend that would further push them towards their goals. Personally, I soak in the experience of learning about a new place and the people and events that have shaped it.
When we visit historial sites, museums, buildings, etc. as tourists, I do not feel we have a full grasp of everything that goes in to making that experience happen. How many of us think about how the temperature of the room is affecting the painting we are looking at? Or how the sculpture we are posing beside is reacting to the humidity of the air or the oil from our skins (yes, the signs say don't touch, but I've come to realize people typically do not read well in public settings). What about how the instituion you are visiting is open for business. There is not an endless supply of money in these organizations, and many of them are non-profit-meaning what ever comes in goes right back into the organization. Sure there are grants, donations, and government assistance in some situations but there are many administrative challenges that are created by this financial structure.
I am not a preservation speciliast, nor am I claiming I have all of the answers. However, there are some practices that can be put into place that can help us keep these landmarks around for future generations to learn and explore history.
- Temperature Control and Humidity Control:
- As mentioned above, the collections housed in musuems are very vulnerable to the elements-temparture, humidity, human touch, etc. It is extemely important that these factors are reduced as much as possible. It is the reason that many artifacts are enclosed in glass cases, and there are those signs posted near ones that are not.
- ASHRAE, or the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, published a chapter in the ASHRAE Handbook titled "Museums, Libraries, and Archives"that outlines the temperature and humitidy requirements based on the type of facility or collections housed. There is a great amount of information in this publication, which I will not go into great detail about but I highly recommend it. It can be found on ASHRAE's website: www.ashrae.com and there is an abstract of it http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/climate/paper_michalski.pdf.
- Budgeting:
- The need for budgeting is imperative in any business, but especially important for these organizations. Many have set budgets for mechanical system maintenance and repair. From my experience, the budget for repairs are significantly higher than that of maintenance. This is a reactive state of maintenance, and one that is very difficult to budget for as the frequency or cost of repairs are unpredictable. This creates a roller coaster cost situation, and in my opinion is not ideal. I focus on recommending a maintenance plan that allows for consistent budgeting, with the priority being maintenance. This is less costly over time, and is more much predictable when it comes budget time-allowing for the financial focus to be on the exhibits and artifacts.
- Proactive Maintenance:
- Putting these practices together in a cohesive plan or program is the most effective and efficient way to accomplish success. By doing this, the organization will ensure that the mechanical systems are operating at their best, allowing for temparture and humidity control. Equipment issues will be fixed before catastrophic breakdowns occur, putting the collections in harms way and potentially disrupting the flow of the facility. Repair costs are reduced, as the equipment is operating efficienty and small inexpesnsive problems are fixed as opposed to costly repairs. Life of the equipment is extended, leading to less unit replacement over the life of the facility. Simply put, it is the best interest of these organizations to take a proactive approach to their mechanical systems, as they play such an important role in the preservation of history and education.
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