6 CONCLUSIONS

The methods described here have the potential for several important applications in the field of art conservation. While the organic elemental analyzers are readily available at most commercial analysis labs, the remaining techniques described have somewhat limited accessibility. At present, both the infrared mapping techniques and the environmental-SEM are commercially available, but there are fewer than 100 instruments of either type in use in North America. Most are located in university laboratories and research facilities. These numbers are growing steadily, and it is likely that both techniques will become very familiar and much more available within the next decade. The PICL instrument is a prototype and is not commercially available. Because the use of PICL is very specialized, it may never expand outside the realm of a few research facilities. The techniques described above are in use at the Getty Conservation Institute where research will continue into the application and usefulness of these and other techniques to the field of conservation.