"Paperwork is my life":

The Manitoba Museum is home to over 2.6 million artifacts and specimens. One role of the Collections and Conservation staff is to maintain records for each item from the time it is offered to the museum, accepted into the collection and then accessed for research and exhibits or loaned to other institutions. While the numbers may be smaller, the same Collections Management practices are used in community museums throughout the province.

Recently, Nancy Anderson, Collections Assistant-Human History, instructed a training course on Collections Management in Shilo, MB. The aim of the course is to give participants the tools to properly manage a museum collection. The course is part of the Association of Manitoba Museum’s Certificate Program in Museum Practice. The thirteen participants represented ten museums throughout the province, including three new museums in Argyle, Brandon, and Richer.

In order to be good stewards of our heritage, museums need to be selective in what they accept into their collection. Participants frequently want to know how to fairly represent the various families, businesses, and organizations within their community without alienating community supporters or overwhelming the museum’s volunteers and resources. In other words, how do you say no? The answer to that question is to develop a Collections Policy that lets people know what you do collect. A strong policy builds on the museum’s Statement of Purpose (why do we exist?) and describes how and what the museum will collect and how the collection will be used.

Sometimes it seems like the motto for Collections Management could be “Paperwork is my life”. The course stressed the importance of establishing procedures for record keeping for museum collections. Good records insure the museums are meeting their legal and professional responsibilities. The accumulated information about an item enhances its value. Proper catalogue records link that item with its story so that the knowledge can be shared with others.

By Lisa May, past Conservator

While perusing the collection in storage Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History, discovered something growing…

Artifacts are donated to The Manitoba Museum from all walks of life. Some may still be in their original packaging, never touched, while others may be very well used. Artifacts, regardless of their overall condition, can be very sensitive to the environments in which they are stored. The museum uses dedicated HVAC units to keep the temperature and humidity of the rooms at conservation standards.

When artifacts arrive at the museum they must acclimatize to their new environment and sometimes this may cause funny things to happen. During Roland’s visit to the storage room he discovered two wooden collar boxes with a strange white substance on them. As he was concerned it was mould growth he brought them immediately to the conservation lab to be assessed.

The substance, found not to be mould, was white coloured crystals growing on the finished areas of the wooden boxes. It appeared to be a component within the finish or varnish which had leached to the surfaces. This most likely occurred while the artifacts adapted to their new environment. In this case, the crystals were cleaned from the objects and luckily caused no harm (i.e.: staining) to their surfaces.

The collar boxes and contents after cleaning.

In the darkness of The Manitoba Museum storage rooms unexpected things can occur in our controlled environmental conditions. Fortunately, with eagle-eyed and talented staff we do our best to resolve issues when they arise so the collection is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

The 37th annual Canadian Association for Conservation conference was held in Winnipeg in May 2010. Conservator Lisa May attended a two-day pre-conference workshop entitled “Advanced Issues in Emergency Preparedness and Response”. As part of this workshop, Jane Dalley from Heritage Conservation Service (Winnipeg, MB), instructed a hands-on component. Workshop participants experienced how to handle, stabilize and clean water damaged items.

This was just one part of the workshop. Lectures and discussion to share experiences and questions were an invaluable aspect, but hands-on practice opportunities are rarer. Thanks go to the Canadian Conservation Institute, helped by local organizer Ala Rekrut from the Archives of Manitoba for presenting this professional development opportunity.

A significant part of the conservator’s job is cleaning. At the Manitoba Museum, our numerous open dioramas require regular vacuuming. The larger dioramas require a team of staff including the Conservators, Diorama Artist, Exhibit Assistant, and whichever Collections Assistants we can round up. We try to get to every diorama once a year.

The vacuuming must be done carefully, so parts are not pulled off. That’s why we use screens, and vacuums that are portable and have adjustable suction.

Sometimes, for vacuuming small and/or fragile artifacts or specimens, we put screening over the vacuum nozzle, or use micro-attachments made for cleaning computers and other electronic equipment.

Dirt and dust can be damaging. They may attract insect pests, can be aesthetically disfiguring, or obscure important information, and can even cause physical harm by, for example, microscopically tearing fragile threads on an old textile.

The most important thing we remember is to remove as much dirt and dust as possible, without harming the object.

Collections Assistant Nancy Anderson took numerous photos to enhance the conservation documentation. The interior fabric, a luxurious velvet, had undergone previous conservation treatment by Parks Canada conservator Lorrie Storr. Tim completed his examination and the cariole was returned to its exhibit location at the end of the day. All in all, many people were pleased!

As well as temperature and RH, the Conservator also conducts pest monitoring. At the Manitoba Museum, we mostly check for insects. Sticky traps in storage and laboratory areas are checked; if a large number of insects are seen, we investigate, looking in the surrounding area more thoroughly. We often find one or two insects on the trap; one or two doesn’t indicate a problem, but is considered a normal condition. And not every insect is one that will feed on our collections.

Museum pests can include mice and squirrels, as well as insects. Although we have had a few problems with mice in the past, our current pest monitoring program focuses on insects.

As part of their training, Conservators learn about different aspects of the museum environment – temperature, RH, light, atmospheric pollutants – and how these can interact with objects to cause damage and deterioration. Conservators also learn about museum pests, and must become familiar with the common pests they will encounter. We keep examples of insects found in the Museum, for reference and comparison.