Developing and Delivering Collection Care Workshops for Volunteer Run Museums
Over the past 12 months I have had the pleasure of working with several volunteer run museums and cultural organisations in Lithgow. Developing and delivering workshops and training sessions was one way to share my knowledge and assist the organisations in the care of their collections.
Below are some examples of the recent workshops I have provided.
Donna White, Deb and myself at Lithgow Small Arms Factory
The Lithgow Small Arms Factory has a collection of glass plate negatives that were in need of cleaning and rehousing. The collection was stored within original custom made wooden boxes and standard card boxes.
The one day workshop was for several volunteers and the custodians of the collection to learn how to handle, clean and rehouse glass plate negatives.
Over the course of the day I demonstrated and instructed the volunteers on how to identify the emulsion and any areas of vulnerability on each glass plate. I provided guidance on careful handling and appropriate equipment that was easily accessible in Lithgow. And then through demonstration and practical learning each glass plate was gently cleaned on both sides, before rehousing into their cleaned original custom made boxes. Cataloging and detailed condition reporting was also possible during the workshop.
The other one day workshop that I provided was simple conservation techniques for volunteers. This was a practical session with the volunteers learning how to condition report, clean and repair paper archive collections.
Understanding the condition of an object is a vital aspect of its long term preservation. Detailed condition reports with photographic evidence provide a reference point for future observations. The workshop included a simple condition report process that could be adapted to most collection objects.
The cleaning component of the workshop focused on paper and archival material.
Cleaning of collections is an essential aspect of collection care and the workshop outlined the steps and various options to ensure that damage does not occur.
Volunteers Deb and Steve and custodians Donna and Kerry White
Steve and Deb undertaking cleaning of paper archives
The final part of the day included paper repair, which is one of my favourite conservation treatments.
The volunteers were shown how to cook up starch paste and use it with the exquisite Japanese tissue to create repairs on paper documents.
I know this process is thought to be time consuming and labour intensive but the resulting repair is long lasting and stable. This can’t be said for ‘sticky tape’ - which is the bane of a paper conservator's existence.
Please do not use sticky tape.
This workshop did include a brief introduction to tape removal and the volunteers immediately understood the difficulty and expertise required in removal of tape from paper based collections. This workshop did require a few more pieces of equipment than most archives have on hand. But most were easily purchased and will last for many more repairs to come.
I thoroughly enjoyed training the volunteers. The volunteers I have worked with over the years are passionate and dedicated to the collection they’re working with.
The workshops are developed to enhance their enthusiasm and in turn they are keen to develop the skills to better care for the collections.
