Ingrid - I agree with Hugh Glover; the hands may have been made of sapwood and therefore susceptible to attack from wood-boring beetles. The remainder of the Buddha might be heartwood, which is immune from beetle infestation. Such an old figure may have lost its natural resin protection to insect attack over the years through volatilization of the resins.
OR the hands could be made of another wood during a repair many years ago. This wood may have had eggs or larvae already in the wood when it was carved and took a few years to finally die out. This scenario is fairly common, especially with mountings and mounting repairs. OR if this figure is covered in gesso, someone has picked off the gesso or it has fallen away over time, revealing old larval beetle galleries centuries old (I've seen this several times in my career). AND discovery of larval galleries in such an old piece indicates it's probably not active and there's no cause for concern with respect to current activity. Thomas A. Parker, PhD President, Entomologist Pest Control Services, Inc. 469 Mimosa Circle Kennett Square, PA 19348 610-444-1765 www.museumpestcontrol.com -----Original Message----- From: Hugh P. Glover <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 3:36 pm Subject: Re: [pestlist] Cryptomeria japonica pests? Ingrid Is it possible that the hands are sapwood and have a higher starch content. Hugh Glover. Williamstown Art Conservation Center On 9/9/08, berkar [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: This is a message from the Pest Management Database List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- I would like to ask if any other museum people have experience with the type of wood called Cryptomeria japonica which we belive to be the species used to carve a 17-18th c Japanese Buddha figure that sits 9' high. There are parts of the Buddha which exhibit more wood boring insect damage than other parts and I am suspicious that the hands, for instance, which are more deteriorated were perhaps carved out of a different type of wood other than Cryptomeria and are not in fact deteriorated because of a previous deleterious storage arrangement for instance. Cryptomeria is listed as a type of wood which is resistent to insects. Any ideas? Ingrid Neuman Objects Conservator RISD Art Museum -----Original Message----- From: Helen Alten Sent: Aug 28, 2008 8:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [email protected] Subject: [pestlist] Cleaning course offered in September Pest infestations are deterred by good housekeeping. Starting Tuesday, Northern States Conservation Center offers its new Museum Cleaning Basics course, along with six other courses on museum topics. MS 217: Museum Cleaning Basics **NEW** Instructor: Gretchen Anderson Dates: Sep 2 - 26, 2008 (may run longer) Price: $425 Location: www.muse umclasses.org Description: Museum Cleaning Basics explores everything you need to know about cleaning your collections. Participants learn when to clean and when not to clean. They also learn how to make those decisions. Topics range from basic housekeeping to specific techniques for specific objects. You will learn why cleaning is important and how to prevent damage when cleaning. We will look at specific techniques that minimize damage while getting the work done. And we will discuss when to call in a specialist, such as a conservator. Students will create a housekeeping manual for their institution. Course Outline 1) Introduction 2) Agents of Deterioration 3) Health and safety for the object and for you 4) Equipment and supplies 5) Cleaning techniques 6) Documentation 7) Spring Cleaning: Housekeeping Manual 8) Conclusion Logistics Participants in Museum Cleaning Basics work through sections at their own pace. Instructor Gretchen Anderson is available for scheduled email support. Materials and resources include online literature, slide lectures and dialog between students and online chats led by the instructor. The course is limited to 20 participants. The Instructor: Objects conservator Gretchen Anderson learned her craft at the American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian's Conservation Analytical Lab, the Canadian Conservation Institute, Getty Conservation Lab, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Minnesota Historical Society. She established the conservation department at the Science Museum of20Minnesota in 1989. Ms. Anderson is a member of the American Institute for Conservation and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. She lectures and presents workshops on preventive conservation, IPM, and practical methods and materials for storage of collections. There is still room in these courses for students interested in building their skills in each of these areas. All are available at www.museumclasses.org. Please sign up and pay at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html . If you have trouble, please contact Helen Alten at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 651-659-9420. September Online Classes MS108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs ** NEW ** Sep 2 - Sep 26, 2008 Instructor: Karin Hostetter MS109: Museum Management ** NEW ** Sep 2 - Sep 26, 2008 Instructor: Sue Near MS202: Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture Sep 2 - Sep 26, 2008 Instructor: Helen Alten MS205/6a: Disaster Plan Research and Writing Sep 2 - Oct 10, 2008 Instructor: Terri Schindel MS209: Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related Institutions Sep 2 - Nov 14, 2008 Instructor: Bill Tompkins MS217: Museum Cleaning Basics ** NEW ** Sep 2 - Sep 26, 2008 C2 Instructor: Gretchen Anderson MS002a: Collection Protection - Are you Prepared? (short course) Sep 22-26, 2008 Instructor: Terri Schindel More details on each course follows: ------------------------------------- MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs ***NEW*** Instructor: Karin Hostetter Dates: Sept. 2-26, 2008 Cost: $425 Location: www.museumclasses.org Description: Volunteers are essential for most non-profit institutions. But even though they don't get paychecks, it takes time and money to have effective volunteers. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs, new for 2008, is designed to teach the basics of a strong volunteer program. Topics include recruiting, training, and rewarding volunteers, as well as preparing staff. Instruction continues through firing and liabilities. Participants will end up with custom forms tailored to their institutions, an understanding of liability issues and a nine-step process to troubleshoot an existing volunteer program or create the best one for a particular institution. Course Outline Week One 1. Introduction 2. Laying the Foundation: preparing staff, job descriptions 3. Determining Program Structure: who's in charge Week Two 4. Recruiting Volunteers 5. Selecting Volunteers Week Three 6. Training Volunteers 7. Evaluating Volunteers 8. Saying "Thank You" Week Four 9. Keeping Records 10. Communicating Information: including handling change 11. Liability 12.20Conclusion Logistics: Participants in Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs work at their own pace through sections and interact through online chats. Instructor Karin Hostetter is available at scheduled times during the course for email support. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs includes online literature and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited to 20 participants. The Instructor Karin Hostetter, author of a series of articles for the National Association for Interpretation's Legacy magazine, has worked with volunteers for nearly 15 years. She taught the National Association for Interpretation's two-day volunteer management course for volunteer coordinators and served on a panel about volunteer programs. As the first paid volunteer coordinator for the Denver Zoo in Colorado, she designed an interview process, developed a progressive and comprehensive recognition system, introduced interpretation into training, and restructured the volunteer organization. Ms. Hostetter now consults with organizations on structuring and improving volunteer programs. And she volunteers herself. ------------------------------------- MS 109: Museum Management Instructor: Susan Near Dates: Sep 2 - 26, 2008 Price: $425 Location: www.museumclasses.org Description Is your museum well run? Maybe, but few museums are so well run they don't need help. And a museum manager who needs no improvement is a rare commodity. Museum Management helps current managers improve and gives a good foundation to those who want to enter management. Participan ts learn requirements for museum administration and processes used to run a successful museum efficiently and effectively. Sound business practices and public accountability are key. Class discussions cover current concerns, such as how the changing cultural climate may effect museum operations. Discussions solidify concepts and help participants apply them to their own situations. Class discussions also build a peer support network that extends beyond the course. Course Outline 1. Introduction 2. Legal and Planning Documents 3. Staff Responsibilities, Organization, & Personnel Management 4. Strategic Planning 5. Budget Management and Accountability 6. Collections Management 7. Facilities Management 8. Marketing and Community Relations 9. Development and Membership 10. Public Programs and Evaluation 11. Overview Future Trends Logistics Participants in Museum Management work through sections on their own. Instructor Susan Near is available for scheduled email support. Materials and resources include online literature and references, slide lectures, dialog between students and online chats led by the instructor. The course is limited to 20 participants. Museum Management runs four weeks. Course Book Museum Administration: An Introduction By Hugh H. Genoways (University of Nebraska State Museum) an d Lynne M. Ireland (Nebraska State Historical Society), Series: American Association for State and Local History, AltaMira Press, 2003 The Instructor Susan Near, director of museum services for the Montana Historical Society for 18 years, recently became the Society's special projects coordinator. A graduate of the Getty's Museum Management Institute and the Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware, Ms. Near's extensive administrative experience includes successful grant-writing, heritage tourism, educational outreach, public relations, marketing, new museum construction, personnel management, and project and event management. She is an accreditation visiting committee member for the American Association of Museums, conducts peer reviews for the Museums Assessment Program, and reviews and serves on grants panels for the Institute for Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Coming from a curatorial background, Ms. Near started her museum career as a research specialist at the Valley Forge Historical Society in Pennsylvania and spent her first 7 years at the Montana Historical Society as Registrar and then Curator. She curated over 20 major art exhibitions and co-authored Montana's State Capitol: The People's House, Montana Historical Society Press, 2002. ------------------------------------- MS202: Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture Instructor: Helen Alten Dates: Sep 2 - 26, 2008 Cost: $425 Location: www.museumclasses.org Description: Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture concentrates on building systems and furniture for storing and protecting collections. Topics include environmental controls, insulation, floor coatings and predicting space requirements. Museum Storage also compares commercial and homemade furniture and provides a blueprint for planning the redesign of your facility. Storage philosophy, construction requirements, safety and security and planning. A new unit details how commercial museum-quality cabinetry is constructed. Blueprints are provided for high-quality, homemade cabinets. Course Outline: 1. Storage Philosophy 2. Agents of Deterioration and Preservation Planning 3. Storage Facilities 4. Storage Furniture 5. Conclusion Logistics: Participants in Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture work at individual paces through five sections. Instructor Helen Alten is available at scheduled times during the course for email support. Resources include forums and scheduled online chats, PowerPoint lectures, reading materials and lecture notes and links to relevant web sites. The Instructor: Helen Alten is an objects conservator and owner of Northern States Conservation Center, St. Paul, Minnesota. She has been an educator, conservator and trainer since 1986. Ms. Alten received her master's degree in archaeological conservation and materials science at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London in 1986. She began working with small, rural, and tribal museums as conservator for Montana and Alaska. ------------------------------------- MS205/6: Disaster Plan Research and Writing Instructor: Terri Schindel Dates: Sep 2 - Oct 10, 2008 Price: $475 Location: www.museumclasses.org Description: Every museum needs to be prepared for fires, floods, chemical spills, tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters. But surveys show 80 percent lack trained staff, emergency-preparedness plans for their collections, or both. Disaster Plan Research and Writing begins with the creation of disaster-preparedness teams, the importance of ongoing planning, employee safety, board participation and insurance. Participants will learn everything they need to draft their own disaster-preparedness plans. They also will be required to incorporate colleagues in team-building exercises. A written disaster-preparedness plan is not only a good idea, it's also a requirement for accreditation. In the second half of the course, instructor Terri Schindel reviews and provides input as participants write plans that outline the procedures to follow in various emergencies. The completed plan prepares museums physically and mentally to handle emergencies that can harm vulnerable and irreplaceable collections. You will have a completed institutional disaster-preparedness and response plan at the end of the course. Course Outline: 1. Introduction to Disaster Planning 2. Disaster Team 3. Risk Assessment and Management 4. Health and Safety 5. Insurance 6. Documentation 7. A 0 Prioritizing Collections 8. Writing the Disaster Preparedness Plan 9. Emergency Procedures 10. Disaster Response 11. Emergency Procedures Recovery 12. Emergency Procedures Salvage 13. Emergency Procedures - Salvage Techniques and Guidelines 14. Emergency supplies and location of regional resources 15. Appendices: What to put in them 16. Next steps: planning drills and further resources 17. Conclusion Logistics: Participants in Disaster Plan Research and Writing work at their own pace. Instructor Terri Schindel is available at scheduled times for email support. Opportunities for interaction include forums and scheduled online chats. Each section includes a written assignment that becomes support material for drafting an actual disaster preparedness plan. Materials include readings, lecture notes, links to relevant web sites and handouts. The course is limited to 20 participants. Required Textbook: Disaster Plan Research and Writing uses the required textbook Steal This Handbook! A Template for Creating a Museum's Emergency Preparedness Plan, which is available for purchase at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html . The Instructor: Terri Schindel graduated from the Courtauld Art Institute, University of London with a concentration in textile conservation. She has assisted small and medium sized museums in writing disaster plans for more than a decade and helped develop national standards for disaster-preparedness materials. Ms. Schindel specializes in collection care and preventive conservation and works regularly with small, rural and tribal museums. ------------------------------------- MS209: Collections Management Policies Instructor: William (Bill) Tompkins Dates: Sept 2 - Nov 14, 2008 Price: $425 Location: www.museumclasses.org Description: Acquiring and holding collections impose specific legal, ethical and professional obligations. Museums must ensure proper management, preservation and use of their collections. A well-crafted collections management policy is key to collections stewardship. Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related Institutions helps participants develop policies that meet professional and legal standards for collections management. Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related Institutions teaches the practical skills and knowledge needed to write and implement such a policy. The course covers the essential components and issues a policy should address. It also highlights the role of the policy in carrying out a museum's mission and guiding stewardship decisions. Participants are expected to draft collections management policies. Course Textbook: John E. Simmons, Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies, American Association of Museums, 2006, $40 non-member, $30 member, 208 pages, ISBN: 1-933253-03-7, available from the AAM bookstore Course Outline: 1. The Principles of Collections Management 2. Collections Stewardship: The Role of a=2 0Collections Management Policy 3. Policy Versus Procedure 4. Issues to Consider When Developing a Collections Management Policy 5. Essential Components of a Collections Management Policy · Statement of Purpose · Statement of Authority · Definition and Scope of Collections · Acquisition and Accessioning · Deaccessioning and Disposal · Preservation · Collections Information · Inventory · Risk Management and Security · Access · Loans · Intellectual Property Rights Management · Staff Responsibility / Ethics 6. Monitoring and Revision 7. Potential Problems 8. Emerging Issues 9. Drafting a Collections Management Policy Logistics: Participants in Collections Management Policies work through sections at their own pace. Instructor Bill Tompkins is available for scheduled email support. Materials and resources include online literature, textbook readings, slide lectures and dialog between students and online chats led by the instructor. The course is limited to 20 participants. The Instructor: William G. (Bill) Tompkins is the national collections coordinator for the Smithsonian Institution. Bill serves as a principal advisor to senior Smithsonian management and staff on collections-management policies, procedures and standards. He develops, implements and interprets Smithsonian collections management standards. This includes reviewing and approving the policies of the Smithsonian's individual museums to make sure collections are maintained according to policy, professional standards and legal obligations. Previously, Bill was assistant director of the Smithsonian's Office of the Registrar. He is also a former collections manager at the National Museum of American History. With nearly thirty years experience in the museum profession, Bill regularly speaks at professional meetings, workshops and university programs. ------------------------------------- MS 002: Collection Protection Are You Prepared? Instructor: Terri Schindel Dates: September 22 through 26, 2008 Price: $75 Location: www.museumclasses.org Disaster planning is overwhelming. Where do you start? Talk to Terri about how to get going. Use her check list to determine your level of preparedness. What do you already have in place? Are you somewhat prepared? What can you do next? Participants in Collection Protection will read literature and complete a checklist before joining two one-hour chats to discuss disaster preparedness at their institutions. This is a short seminar and takes no more than 10 hours of a student's time. ------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and in the body put: "unsubscribe pestlist" Any problems email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
