Conservators are all about making fragile cultural property sustainable so that it is available for your children and their children’s children. Future generations likely will have new tools, new theories, and new methods to test out against irreplaceable original collection items (such as books, photographs, documents and records, as well as Mary Lincoln’s pearls.)

The lights, temperature, relative humidity, and other environmental factors found in exhibit environments may speed deterioration, shortening the life expectancy of unique original items. So, conservators will carefully determine how long valuable original items can withstand exhibit conditions, while still ensuring that the originals will be available to future generations for new exhibits, copy technologies, and research usages.

Conservators also examine fragile original items, document them, treat them, and provide preventive care to them, such as monitoring their storage environments and saving them in case of emergencies as well as conducting research that results in exciting new treatments, tools, and technologies, some of which are listed on our Website at: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/. At the LC’s Preservation Directorate web pages, you also will find a section on “Preparing, Protecting, Preserving Family Treasures,” to assist you in saving your family’s history.

Finally, conservators want to explain who we are as professionals and what we do to preserve the past for the future. We want you to know “why conservation matters,” so you will join us in sustaining the best of the past’s cultural property for the use by the brightest of the future.

The lights, temperature, relative humidity, and other environmental factors found in exhibit environments may speed deterioration, shortening the life expectancy of unique original items. When not on display, digital technologies allow us to view and work with high quality copies for most purposes, while keeping fragile originals safe. So, conservators will carefully determine how long valuable original items can withstand exhibit conditions, while still being available to future generations for new exhibits, copy technologies, and research usages.

Conservators also examine fragile original items, document them, treat them, and provide preventive care to them, such as rehousing, monitoring their storage environments, and saving them in case of emergencies. Conservators also conduct research that results in exciting new treatments, tools, and technologies, some of which are listed on our Website at: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/. At this site you also will find a section on Preparing, Protecting, Preserving Family Treasures, to assist you in saving your family’s history.

Finally conservators want to explain who we are and what we do, through public education so that the world understands, “why conservation matters.” Conservation is how the past is sustained for the enrichment of the future. Thanks for reading Matt’s blog on our conservation lab. We love to be able to share our work with you.

And thanks for the tip, Justin.

Also… I love the behind the scenes type stuff. Video would be great. I’d recommend checking out the Flip Mino Video camera. Do a google search for it. Makes it super easy to do quick interviews and then you can throw it on YouTube.