Online course on environment

Starting May 4, 2009 there is an opportunity to discuss relative
humidity and temperature and how they affect your museum:

MS 211: Preservation Environments
May 4-May 29, 2009
Price: $425
Instructor: Ernest A. Conrad
Location: <URL:http://www.museumclasses.org>

Description: The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling. The
powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust under the foam
padding. Objects in fur storage are covered in mold. It is raining
in the exhibit hall. This is the damage that occurs to museum
buildings or collection when staff do not understand preservation
environments. Preservation Environments is essential knowledge for
any collecting institution. Everyone should understand how humidity
and temperature are controlled by a building and its mechanical
system. For museum staff considering a new building--and any
institution planning to expand or rebuild an existing
one--Preservation Environments provide important information for
calculating whether the proposed improvements will actually improve
the environmental control of your protective enclosure. Participants
learn the advantages and disadvantages of numerous methods of
temperature and humidity control. Preservation Environments does not
try to turn museum professionals into engineers. Rather, it arms
them with the knowledge they need to work with engineers and
maintenance professionals. And helps explain why damaged occurred
and how to keep it from happening again.

Course Outline:

    Introduction
    Climate Control Basics
    Monitoring and Psychrometrics
    Water - The Enemy
    Preservation Today and Tomorrow
    Conclusion

Logistics: Participants in Preservation Environments work at their
own pace through six sections and interact through online chats.
Instructor Ernest Conrad is available at scheduled times for email
support. Preservation Environments includes online literature, slide
lectures and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is
limited to 20 participants.

Preservation Environments runs four weeks. To reserve a spot in the
course, please pay at
<URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html>

If you have trouble please contact Helen Alten
<helen<-at->collectioncare<.>org>

The Instructor:

    Ernest A. Conrad's greatest contribution to the preservation
    field was the development of environmental guidelines for
    engineers who work on museums, libraries and archives. For over
    20 years, Mr. Conrad has focused on environmental issues. He is
    president of Landmark Facilities Group, Inc., an engineering
    firm specializing in environmental systems for museums,
    libraries, archives and historic facilities. A licensed
    mechanical engineer in several states, Mr. Conrad holds a
    bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's in
    environmental engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia,
    Pennsylvania.

    The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
    Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) publishes standards in
    the areas of HVAC and refrigeration. Mr. Conrad recently
    co-authored the ASHRAE Applications Handbook "Chapter 20:
    Museums, Libraries and Archives." For the first time, there are
    guidelines specific to our needs in the engineering literature.
    Mr. Conrad has studied environments and designed special climate
    control systems throughout the United States for clients as
    well-known as the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress,
    The Frick Collection, Getty Conservation Institute, The Pierpont
    Morgan Library, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and
    National Park Service. He has a special interest in house
    museums and how climate affects structures and collections
    housed within those structures.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:62
                  Distributed: Sunday, April 26, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-22-62-017
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