Connecting to Collections Care

Hello Valerie,

It is not surprising that most of the published literature you are finding related to temperature and humidity is five years old or older. Research in that area of preservation does not move quickly and likely most of what you are finding that is less than five years old are updates to ongoing research.

My guess is that what you have heard is coming out of the discussions around relaxing what has historically been the "standard" of 70F and 50%RH as a path to reduce energy use and to facilitate more collection loans worldwide.

I use quotes around "standard" because a close reading of the historic sources on the museum environment should reveal that what has become known as a "standard" was an educated best catch-all guess for an ideal climate range proposed by Garry Thomson in the late 1970's. Mr. Thomson's very good guess also factored in human comfort since broadly speaking we know from research over the last 45+ years on the topic - the lower the temperature, the longer potential lifespan of the object being preserved. While Thomson's proposal has been considered a "standard", it might be more accurate to call the values climate "guidelines" for collections preservation while on display.

The move to reexamine the "guidelines" and propose alternatives has recently been renewed by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) as part of their Managing Collections Environment (MCE) initiative launched around 2013 and underpinned by the work of scientists Vincent Beltran and Michał Łukomski. Prior to this recent effort the topic was given serious scientific evaluation in the late 1990's and early 2000's by Marion Mecklenburg of the Smithsonian Conservation Institute (the unit name has since changed) and Stefan Michalski of the Canadian Conservation Institute. Both scientists recommended broader ranges of temperature and humidity as preservation "guidelines" based on scientific experimentation. At that time, these broader ranges met with resistance in the conservation community.

The GCI MCE initiative seeks to look holistically at the many physical factors impacting the preservation environment - local climate, building type, collection type, resource availability, etc. - to help practitioners tailor recommendations based on risk assessment and scientific understanding. 

If you have not already found the AAM article from 2019 on the MCE it is at the link below. I will disclose that I am a MCE "alum" from the referenced 2017 workshop and funny enough that's me standing, pointing at the board, in the article's second image.

https://www.aam-us.org/2019/12/09/when-it-comes-to-protecting-collections-one-size-does-not-fit-all/

Additional links if you have not already found them:

More on the MCE initiative is here -

https://www.getty.edu/projects/managing-collection-environments-initiative/

The publication on the MCE is here -

https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/mce-tecnical-notes-and-guidance.html

Useful resources from CCI & Michalski -

https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/preventive-conservation.html

Still applicable from SI & Mecklenburg -

https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/792332ed-67d5-4490-bf22-54bc2dc1eb6c/content

Historic origins by Thomson -

https://archive.org/details/museumenvironmen0000thom_k0u5

ASRAE the closest thing to actual "standards" for HVAC engineers

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778816306946

For more recent presentations/publications on the application of MCE concepts in real life and within the last five years you might seek out -

• Margarita Villanueva, Adriana Páez Cure, Agnes Brokerhof, "A climate balancing act – Negotiating environmental conditions for loans between different climate zones". Presented at the ICOM-CC conference in 2023.

• Michael Varcoe-Cocks, MaryJo Lelyveld, Caitlin Breare, Alexandra Bridarolli, Vincent Laudato Beltran, Youkyoung Kim, Cecilia Winter, and Michał Łukomski, "Implementing an Adaptive Climate Control Strategy: Collection Monitoring and Sustainability Outcomes" Studies in Conservation, Vol 63., p. 352-59. Presented at the IIC conference in 2024.

I hope the above helps with your dive into the current trend in environmental guidelines for collections and illuminates the considerations for tailored collection environments.

Hello Valerie,

It is not surprising that most of the published literature you are finding related to temperature and humidity is five years old or older. Research in that area of preservation does not move quickly and likely most of what you are finding that is less than five years old are updates to ongoing research.

My guess is that what you have heard is coming out of the discussions around relaxing what has historically been the "standard" of 70F and 50%RH as a path to reduce energy use and to facilitate more collection loans worldwide.

I use quotes around "standard" because a close reading of the historic sources on the museum environment should reveal that what has become known as a "standard" was an educated best catch-all guess for an ideal climate range proposed by Garry Thomson in the late 1970's. Mr. Thomson's very good guess also factored in human comfort since broadly speaking we know from research over the last 45+ years on the topic - the lower the temperature, the longer potential lifespan of the object being preserved. While Thomson's proposal has been considered a "standard", it might be more accurate to call the values climate "guidelines" for collections preservation while on display.

The move to reexamine the "guidelines" and propose alternatives has recently been renewed by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) as part of their Managing Collections Environment (MCE) initiative launched around 2013 and underpinned by the work of scientists Vincent Beltran and Michał Łukomski. Prior to this recent effort the topic was given serious scientific evaluation in the late 1990's and early 2000's by Marion Mecklenburg of the Smithsonian Conservation Institute (the unit name has since changed) and Stefan Michalski of the Canadian Conservation Institute. Both scientists recommended broader ranges of temperature and humidity as preservation "guidelines" based on scientific experimentation. At that time, these broader ranges met with resistance in the conservation community.

The GCI MCE initiative seeks to look holistically at the many physical factors impacting the preservation environment - local climate, building type, collection type, resource availability, etc. - to help practitioners tailor recommendations based on risk assessment and scientific understanding. 

If you have not already found the AAM article from 2019 on the MCE it is at the link below. I will disclose that I am a MCE "alum" from the referenced 2017 workshop and funny enough that's me standing, pointing at the board, in the article's second image.

https://www.aam-us.org/2019/12/09/when-it-comes-to-protecting-collections-one-size-does-not-fit-all/

Additional links if you have not already found them:

More on the MCE initiative is here -

https://www.getty.edu/projects/managing-collection-environments-initiative/

The publication on the MCE is here -

https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/mce-tecnical-notes-and-guidance.html

Useful resources from CCI & Michalski -

https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/preventive-conservation.html

Still applicable from SI & Mecklenburg -

https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/792332ed-67d5-4490-bf22-54bc2dc1eb6c/content

Historic origins by Thomson -

https://archive.org/details/museumenvironmen0000thom_k0u5

ASRAE the closest thing to actual "standards" for HVAC engineers

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778816306946

For more recent presentations/publications on the application of MCE concepts in real life and within the last five years you might seek out -

• Margarita Villanueva, Adriana Páez Cure, Agnes Brokerhof, "A climate balancing act – Negotiating environmental conditions for loans between different climate zones". Presented at the ICOM-CC conference in 2023.

• Michael Varcoe-Cocks, MaryJo Lelyveld, Caitlin Breare, Alexandra Bridarolli, Vincent Laudato Beltran, Youkyoung Kim, Cecilia Winter, and Michał Łukomski, "Implementing an Adaptive Climate Control Strategy: Collection Monitoring and Sustainability Outcomes" Studies in Conservation, Vol 63., p. 352-59. Presented at the IIC conference in 2024.

I hope the above helps with your dive into the current trend in environmental guidelines for collections and illuminates the considerations for tailored collection environments.