Emily - The original work on freezing was done by Mary-Lou E. Florian, Conservation Scientist, British Columbia Provincial Museum and was published in Leather Conservation News, Vol. 3, No. 1, Fall, 1986, 9 pp. Everyone else has followed her lead.
Tom Parker -----Original Message----- From: Kaplan, Emily <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 8:22 pm Subject: call for freezer specifications Hello all, (Apologies for cross-posting) The IPM working group treatment subgroup is looking for examples of freezer specifications from various institutions. Our hope is to compile these specifications and post them on the museumpests.net site as a resource for institutions looking into purchasing freezers. This information would accompany fact sheets already posted about recommendations and procedures for low temperature treatments, which can be found on the http://museumpests.net/tools/treatments.htm (along with fact sheets for other types of treatments). If your institution has a freezer you are happy with (or if you have cautionary tales of freezers you have not been happy with) it would be enormously helpful if you can find the time to put together the basic specs. We can edit and compile them for posting. We won’t use the name of your institution unless you give us permission but your location will be helpful information – i.e. country, and if US what region. . Here is the basic information we are looking for, based on the recommend ed minimum temperature at 20 degrees below 0 Celsius, maintained constantly so that cycling (as in “frost-free” freezers) does not bring freezer temperature above that. Type – i.e. chest freezer, walk-in Brand Model Size Price Year purchased Brief description of capabilities – lowest temperature capable of reaching and maintaining Have you had adjustments made to the freezer so that it can maintain adequate low temperature? How do you monitor the temperature? Are you doing any independent check of the temperature (e.g. dataloggers) and if so what equipment are you using? Comments on maintenance and any other related experiences An example can be found on http://museumpests.net/tools/treatments.htm in the posted document “Pest Treatment Case Study: Low Temperature Pest Management Treatment at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian “ Please send your information to me at the address below. Thanks very much! Emily (chair, IPM Working Group Treatments subgroup) Emily Kaplan Conservator National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center 4220 Silver Hill Rd Suitland MD 20746 301.238.1418 fax 301.238.3201 [email protected]
