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Thanks to a Spring 2001 grant of $24,444 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), we were able to bring two specialists: to the Museum to conduct detailed condition surveys of our audio and still and moving image collections that will ultimately lead to the preservation of these unique collections.
"We are fortunate to live in a country which strives to preserve its resources, cultural and natural," said Beverly Sheppard on behalf of the IMLS. "We must continue to race against time so that the story of our heritage can be told in all its richness and future generations will not experience the sorrow of lost artifacts, vanishing places, and extinct species."
The Museum's audio and still and moving image collections range from the third largest collection of original wax cylinder recordings in the United States - including those cylinders Alfred Kroeber used in his field work during first decade of the 20th-century - to mammoth prints by the 19th-century American photographer Carleton Watkins, the subject of a recent retrospective organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In order to determine the condition of the Museum's collections we began by identifying two specialists Timothy Vitale, a photographic and film conservator, and Gerald Gibson, formerly a Preservation Specialist in the Research and Testing Division of the Library of Congress. Working closely with the Museum's conservator, Madeleine Fang, over a three-week period Mr. Vitale and Mr. Gibson conducted an item level evaluation of a random sample of each type of collection housed at the Museum, both on and off site. Mr. Vitale reviewed slides, glass plate negatives, photographic prints, and hundreds of feet of motion picture film, looking for fading, shrinkage, and Vinegar Syndrome common in film and photographic collections. Mr. Gibson assessed the condition of our wax cylinders, as well as the magnetic tape recordings. He looked for cracks, scratches, and mold on the surface of the cylinders and for sticktion, a condition that leads to loss of information in the magnetic tapes.
The surveyors' final reports are critical to our long-term preservation planning for these collections. What was immediately apparent, however, is that cold storage is critical for the long-term preservation of both collections. The life expectancy of materials including film, wax cylinders, and paper, stored at -4 degrees Fahrenheit is 380 times that of materials kept at room temperature. Fortunately, the Museum possesses an appropriate space to convert into a cold storage facility. The task we now face is finding the funding to purchase the equipment and supplies for the long-term preservation of these exceptional collections.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, supports the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology.
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