conservation

advice & treatment

documentation & reporting

It is important to accurately record all insights and data generated during treatment. The following aspects are crucial in this regard: recording agreements, justifying decisions and ensuring that the recorded data can be retrieved in the future. A good documentation system ensures that treatment data is recorded and made accessible.

The following components may form part of a report prepared by an external or in-house conservator.
– Information and object identification can be linked
– Metadata are presented clearly and systematically
– The conservation issue is set out in a professional manner
– Thorough diagnostics underpin treatment proposals, including preventive ones
– Any project phases are identified and justified (step-by-step plan)
– Data from analyses, including those carried out externally, are incorporated and interpreted
– The aim and context of the treatment are carefully set out
– A decision model is set out where necessary
– Decision-making responsibilities are identified where necessary
– Decisions regarding materials, examination and treatment techniques and implementing conservation actions, including preventive ones, are set out and justified
– The results are presented in a clear and organised manner
– The report and supporting arguments include references to up-to-date and recently consulted sources
– The report includes relevant images, photomicrographs, technical drawings, spectra, graphs, mappings and similar material
– Techniques and materials are set out in a list (brand names, chemical names or components, technical data and, where necessary, suppliers)
– Any instructions regarding future management and conservation are provided

This may result in a concise report containing a detailed overview and justification of conservation measures for an object or group of objects (for inclusion in a ‘patient file’). It could also result in the documentation of installation instructions for a complex glass artwork. A report could also present advice on improving the long-term preservation of a glass artwork in a building or assess the possibilities for relocating an artwork in public space.

In all cases, the conservator structures the report according to the four quadrants used on this platform:

Information about the creation

– How was it made, and what are the technical, material or conceptual characteristics of the work?
– Position the work in its historical context and compile information on the object’s biography

Information about conservation

– What are the vulnerabilities, and what is the condition? Is further research required to establish a diagnosis and formulate conservation advice or a treatment proposal?
– Provide advice and propose and carry out state-of-the-art treatments.

Responsibility for archiving and future access to the data lies with the owner of the glass object.

An example of a highly suitable tool for accessing conservation data is Conservation Studio, a software application within TMS (The Museum System).