Senin, 10 Juni 2013

Museum Storage Options For Artifacts

By Teri Farley


Finding a solution for quality museum storage does not have to be a difficult endeavor. The first thing that needs to be decided is what the best way to store an artifacts is. There are quite a few options that depend on the value of the artifact, the size of the artifact, and the shape of the artifact. The different cases can be Plexiglas, wooden, glass, metal, or made from any other cost effective material. The material used is usually dependent on the method of storage that the artifact or artifacts need.

Archiving and storing options become particularly important when it comes to collections of artifacts that are rotated through a museum and then are placed back into the archives. Some of these storage cases can be displayed as well as used when a museum piece is archived. This style of case has the benefit of keeping the museum pieces from being exposed. Not changing the storage case can help preserve the artifact depending on how delicate the artifact is.

Sometimes the shape of the artifact is what shapes the case it is put in. Some artifacts are shaped oddly and therefore fit into oddly shaped cases. Most of the time curators can group artifacts that are alike together in the same storage case. This gives curators more options for moving the different cases and setting up different displays.

Many of the cases like these can be shifted without exposing the actual artifacts to air or adverse conditions. Not having to change the cases in between showing the artifact and storing them also helps prevent the risk of the artifact being dropped or damaged.

The archiving options that a curator has depends on the type, size, shape, and value of the artifact. Most artifacts are relatively easy to store while others need to have specialty cases built for them. This is especially true for those artifacts that have an unusual shape, size, or are particularly delicate.

When artifacts are just placed into an archive and not taken out again for a while, they are usually packed into crates. These crates are usually made from wood much like shipping crates are. The artifacts are packed together or individually depending on the type of artifact, method of storing it, and where the crate will be. Sometimes the crates are packed and shipped elsewhere and other times they are just stored.

Some ways to store artifacts include options that are not for both display and storage and are more like wooden crates. The wooden crate has been used throughout museum history to store artifacts. Most of the time the artifacts are packed with either straw, Styrofoam peanuts, or some other soft packing material. These cases can be used for different artifacts of similar size if need be.

Museum storage can come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. They do not have to be limited to just one type of case. Many places will place artifacts with less value in standard crates and the more valuable ones will go into vaults. The vaults are often a variety of different types of safes with different types of security system.




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