Technical Papers
The Museum Environment:
Transforming the Solution into a Problem (2006)
by Steven Weintraub
The museum environment is a complex subject that cannot be reduced to a simple set of requirements. The enforcement of prescriptive and rigid environmental specifications can result in unintended and adverse consequences, both to the collection and to the overall institution. Although there are practical reasons why guidelines have transformed into rigid specifications, the emphasis needs to shift back to flexible performance-based guidelines.
Demystifying Silica Gel (2002)
by Steven Weintraub
It is important to understand how silica gels vary in performance in order to select the most cost-effective gel for a particular application. MH, the hysteresis corrected buffering capacity of silica gel, is the critical variable for assessing silica gel efficiency. Calculating the correct quantity of silica gel allows for the cost-efficient selection of an appropriate amount of buffering material. If certain variables in the calculation are unknown, such as leakage rate or external RH conditions, general recommendations based on average display conditions have been provided, both for temporary exhibitions and for permanent displays. Finally, simple procedures for the use and maintenance of silica gel have been described. Passive humidity control within an exhibit case, when applied correctly, is a very simple and cost-efficient method of protecting museum collections from humidity induced damage.
Using Risk Assessment Tools to Evaluate the Use of LEDs for the Illumination of Light-Sensitive Collection (2010)
by Steven Weintraub
Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have been gaining a great deal of attention over the last few years. This interest has been fueled by the need to find an energy efficient replacement for the incandescent lamp, a technology that has been around in various forms since the time of Edison. The rapid emergence of LEDs as a potential source for general lighting applications has also led to a great deal of confusion and concern about the appropriateness of the current generation of LEDs.
These concerns fall into three categories:
• Risk to light sensitive artifacts
• Color rendering characteristics
• Reliability and cost-benefit of LEDs compared with alternative sources of illumination
This article focuses specifically on risk because it is of primary concern in considering the use of LEDs in a display setting.