13:00:33 Okay, welcome everybody.
13:00:38 This is Mike from learning times,
13:00:40 we're going to start in just a couple of moments.
13:00:52 Just before we get started and just wanted to draw your attention or
13:00:55 welcome you to the zoom platform.
13:00:56 If at any point in time you encounter any challenges with zoom,
13:01:00 please feel free to reach out to me.
13:01:01 You can get ahold of me via the chat window at the bottom of your
13:01:03 screen.
13:01:04 And also you'll note that there's both the chat and the Q and a.
13:01:12 Button at the bottom.
13:01:12 So what we're gonna do is we're going to ask you to use the Q and A's
13:01:15 communicate with our presenter in order to, to ask questions.
13:01:18 And if you have any comments for the general audience or questions of
13:01:22 tech support nature,
13:01:23 Feel free to communicate with us using the chat.
13:01:25 So without further delay, we'll go ahead and pass things off to Robin.
13:01:28 Go.
13:01:29 Go ahead, Robin.
13:01:30 Hi everyone. And welcome back to another year of CDC care.
13:01:33 Before I start,
13:01:35 I would like to acknowledge this webinar is being moderated on the
13:01:37 traditional lands of.
13:01:38 And Seminole people and their ancestors.
13:01:40 And I pay my respect to elders both past and present.
13:01:46 Well, again, welcome. This is the new year.
13:01:48 We're excited to have this presentation today.
13:01:49 I'm going to run through just a couple of quick intro slides,
13:01:51 and we're going to hand off the presentation to our speaker tonight.
13:01:54 Cause he said today's presentation is all gonna be about care of
13:01:56 baskets and basketry.
13:01:58 Again, my name is Robyn Bauer Kilgo on the CDC care coordinator.
13:02:01 And you just met Mike, who is our producer over at learning times.
13:02:07 Really quick. I think most people have this grip,
13:02:09 especially know about this, that I always like to plug our website,
13:02:11 connecting to collections a.org.
13:02:17 There you can find in entire fabulous archives resources and
13:02:20 everything else related to our program,
13:02:22 which is supported by IMLS and F a I Z.
13:02:30 Again, our archives for both our courses and our webinars.
13:02:33 There is a plethora of information on this website. It is all free.
13:02:36 Anyone can access it.
13:02:38 We have recordings of webinars and all sorts of fun things. So.
13:02:40 If you want to go on there,
13:02:41 use the search button type in the subject that maybe you're interested
13:02:43 in, and there's most likely a webinar on it.
13:02:51 We also have an online community,
13:02:52 which is available for anyone to post questions when it comes to care
13:02:56 questions. What's nice about our community is that it is moderated by
13:02:59 conservation professionals are conservators.
13:03:06 So, if you have a question related to the care of any objects in your
13:03:07 collections, post a question, one of our fabulous volunteer monitors,
13:03:11 we'll take a look at it and get you some great information on how to
13:03:13 deal with it.
13:03:14 So I do encourage everyone to go check out that online area.
13:03:17 We also have two homes online over on facebook.com and our Twitter
13:03:20 account,
13:03:21 where we do announcements for our upcoming webinars than anything else
13:03:24 you might be interested in.
13:03:27 Couple of quick future programming notes.
13:03:28 Before we get into today's topics on February 16th,
13:03:31 we will have a free webinar called the labeling lightening round.
13:03:34 We are working on putting it together now.
13:03:39 But basically,
13:03:40 it's going to be a chance for you to learn methodologies on how to put
13:03:44 numbers on your collection items from presenters,
13:03:45 from all around the world, actually.
13:03:47 We're going to have a combination of recorded videos and live Q and a.
13:03:49 So we're looking forward to it. It'll be February 16th at 1:00 PM.
13:03:52 Eastern.
13:03:53 We also have a course starting in March.
13:03:55 The course is going to be a five webinars series. The courses.
13:03:58 Do you have a small fee attached to them?
13:04:02 But it'll be a great information.
13:04:04 It's all about planning and managing minute magnetic media
13:04:06 preservation projects.
13:04:30 So essentially,
13:04:31 if you look into your collection storage area and you see a lot of VHS
13:04:35 tapes and other items kept on magnetic media,
13:04:37 this course will help you organize it. Get an inventory of it.
13:04:40 Be able to actually start looking at preservation long-term projects,
13:04:45 to get the data over to more stable formats, all sorts of fun things.
13:04:45 So I would encourage you to take a look at our website.
13:04:47 Both of those items are going to be on there by the end of the week,
13:04:49 and you will be able to start registering for them at that time.
13:04:53 As Mike said, there are two boxes.
13:04:55 I think most of us are pretty used to zoom by now,
13:04:57 but I always like to point out there are two separate boxes when it
13:04:59 comes to chat and Q and a,
13:05:00 if you want to speak to the panelists on just a comment or you're
13:05:03 having a technical issue, you use the chat.
13:05:05 If you have a question during the Q and a period,
13:05:07 which will happen after the presentation,
13:05:08 please put it in the Q and a box just helps us track the questions a
13:05:11 little bit easier.
13:05:12 And now I'm going to go ahead and introduce our speaker today.
13:05:15 Her name is [unknown].
13:05:16 She's an objects conservator at the museum of anthropology,
13:05:18 UBC in Vancouver, Canada.
13:05:20 We're really excited to have her speak today.
13:05:21 So I'm going to go ahead and give control of the presentation,
13:05:26 open to her, and we will see you all at the end,
13:05:26 during the Q and a period.
13:05:28 See you soon.
13:05:29 Hi, Robin.
13:05:30 Thank you for that introduction.
13:05:32 Sorry, can you see my screen?
13:05:39 Not yet,
13:05:39 but go ahead and try to share it real quick and we'll see it being,
13:05:40 pop it up.
13:05:49 How's that.
13:05:52 Perfect.
13:05:54 Great. Thank you very much.
13:06:02 Good morning or good afternoon, depending on where you are.
13:06:03 I'm Ray to laugh. I'm a conservator.
13:06:08 At the museum of anthropology at the university of British Columbia.
13:06:16 And today I'm going to be talking about the care of basketry in museum
13:06:22 collections.
13:06:23 So.
13:06:25 Sorry.
13:06:27 First of all, I would like to say that I am speaking to you.
13:06:30 From the museum of anthropology.
13:06:35 Which is on the traditional ancestral and unceded territory of the
13:06:39 muscular and people.
13:06:49 I did want to give a brief introduction to the museum of anthropology
13:06:52 and the work that we do here to frame how we care for our collections
13:06:57 and in particular,
13:06:58 Baskets.
13:07:00 So one of the things about the museum,
13:07:02 one of the first places that you walk into at the museum of
13:07:05 anthropology, which I will probably refer to from now on as MOA.
13:07:07 Is the great hall.
13:07:09 So in this area at, at the entrance of the museum,
13:07:13 We have all of our monumental totem poles and how how's I suppose.
13:07:19 And the architecture of the building is meant to mimic the post and
13:07:23 beam architecture of the Northwest coast.
13:07:25 From there.
13:07:30 You can visit our multi Versiti galleries,
13:07:33 which I will likely refer to is the MVG.
13:07:36 Our [unknown].
13:07:36 The galleries are a 14,000 square foot space.
13:07:49 And we exhibit about 10,000 objects from all over the world.
13:07:52 And the concept is a visible storage,
13:07:55 which allows us to exhibit, or I have a lot more objects on exhibits.
13:07:59 Than than usual. So I'm here.
13:08:01 On the left of the screen is our core coocky walk platform.
13:08:04 And you can see all those beautiful dance masks.
13:08:10 And on the right is our Cantonese opera case.
13:08:13 So we do have a very large Asian collection and.
13:08:16 In particular Cantonese opera.
13:08:25 We also have about 3000 baskets in our collection.
13:08:28 So this part of the NVG on the left is showing all of our Northwest
13:08:32 coast baskets.
13:08:34 On exhibit.
13:08:39 And on the rights,
13:08:40 this is showing a Javanese Wicker motorcycle,
13:08:44 which although not a typical basket it's definitely made of from
13:08:48 basketry materials.
13:08:48 And we also, you can see some Indonesian.
13:08:50 A Wicker hats also in the same image.
13:09:07 So we do have the traditional baskets,
13:09:10 but we also have a lot of contemporary pieces that are made from a
13:09:15 traditional materials using traditional methods. So on the very left,
13:09:19 we have this, this woven Cedar bark panel,
13:09:23 which is so new, we don't even have a.
13:09:23 Proper photo of it,
13:09:25 but I wanted to show you just so you could see how those traditional
13:09:33 methods are used in contemporary.
13:09:33 Pieces and.
13:09:33 You may have Simone.
13:09:33 You're under your care.
13:09:37 In the middle slide is a Cedar bark and will dance to neck.
13:09:41 And then on the right is a contemporary new,
13:09:43 new Hulk mask with a Cedar bark fringe. So we definitely,
13:09:47 we have a lot of Cedar bark in our collection.
13:09:51 Another thing that's important to know about the museum about their
13:09:54 apology is we are one of the largest teaching museums in Canada.
13:09:57 So we do teach courses in conservation.
13:10:00 And here you see my colleague, Heidi swearing.
13:10:02 Introducing the students of the care or the conservation of organic
13:10:06 objects.
13:10:08 She's introducing them to Japanese tissue.
13:10:09 Which they're going to be using in a subsequent lab on the repair of
13:10:14 basketry.
13:10:15 And then we also have a number of interns in conservation.
13:10:24 We usually host one or two a year and you can see here.
13:10:28 This was our intern in 2019, Sally Kim,
13:10:30 who is working on a Cantonese opera head dress.
13:10:33 Some of the other important work that we do at the museum of
13:10:35 anthropology in balls collection access.
13:10:55 So being affiliated with the university,
13:10:56 we do have a lot of researchers and classes and artists that want to
13:11:01 come and get up close to our collection.
13:11:04 So we definitely have a program where people can,
13:11:06 we will pull objects and people can come in and get a closer look at
13:11:09 them.
13:11:10 But we also have a special program for collections of access for
13:11:15 family.
13:11:16 And community members, originating community members.
13:11:19 So here we have on the left.
13:11:21 This woman who is who's come to visit her familial objects.
13:11:24 So her father was a Carver.
13:11:31 And he carved all the objects on the table that she,
13:11:34 she wanted to see. And she's also wearing her mother's danced robe,
13:11:38 which is part of our collection.
13:11:39 So when we do have a family's coming to visit their objects,
13:11:43 We do not impose any sorts of handling restrictions on them.
13:11:47 They're allowed to touch things with their bare hands, if they wish.
13:11:51 If for some reason, we feel that there is a danger.
13:11:54 Because of pesticide residues or.
13:11:59 Something inherently toxic in the object.
13:12:03 We will mention it to them,
13:12:04 but we don't restrict any access to family or community members.
13:12:14 Something else.
13:12:15 We also have an outreach program where we will actually,
13:12:15 people can have, or communities can request to have their objects.
13:12:18 Come to their community because it's not always easy.
13:12:29 For people to come to the museum.
13:12:30 So we have a funding program to either bring people into the museum to
13:12:34 see their objects,
13:12:35 or we can take museums out to the community so people can visit their
13:12:39 objects in person.
13:12:40 And the knowledge that's gained from these types of interactions is
13:12:46 really invaluable. We can learn so much about.
13:12:49 Parts of the collection from people who actually know these,
13:12:52 these objects.
13:12:53 Who have, you know, maybe a relative size.
13:12:57 Have made them,
13:12:59 but also there's just a lot of joy that comes when people can see
13:13:02 their community objects up close and personal. So we do.
13:13:05 Take,
13:13:06 this is an important part of the preservation process and a weave.
13:13:11 Referred to it as preserving the intangible aspects of the object.
13:13:20 Another thing that we do at the museum is we share what we share
13:13:24 building space with the UBC laboratory of archeology.
13:13:31 LOA and LOA acts as a repository for a lot of wet site materials in
13:13:36 the province. So these are materials that come out of the grounds.
13:13:40 That maybe can't be treated right away, lower we'll. Hold on to them.
13:13:44 We act as an overflow.
13:13:45 For in our cold storage for keeping those objects safe,
13:13:48 but we do also have the equipment.
13:13:53 To treat these objects, cleaning or preservation treatments,
13:13:57 which I will probably talk about a little bit later.
13:14:01 So that was just the background.
13:14:03 And I hope that gives some context to why we care for the things that
13:14:06 we do the way we do.
13:14:08 So when we think about caring for basketry,
13:14:11 there's three things that we consider.
13:14:13 First and foremost, first the materials.
13:14:18 What's the basket made of the materials are definitely going to
13:14:21 affect.
13:14:22 Oh,
13:14:24 Basket is going to interact with the environments.
13:14:27 That's that's really an important first step.
13:14:33 Seconds is the construction.
13:14:35 So by looking at the construction of the basket,
13:14:36 you should be able to.
13:14:40 Pinpoint areas of weakness or strength.
13:14:43 So I'm looking at the construction is important.
13:14:50 And then the history of use.
13:14:54 So the history of use also can lead you to conclusions about a
13:14:59 weaknesses or what areas may need support.
13:15:02 But also,
13:15:03 it can also give you clues to things like dirt.
13:15:06 That are on your basket. So is it,
13:15:08 was it dirt that was gains.
13:15:13 Through use. And if so,
13:15:14 that's something that's very important and that you want to retain
13:15:17 that information.
13:15:24 So anyway, yes, you would look at a,
13:15:25 say a Berry basket differently than a Northwest coast hat.
13:15:28 And I should point out that these baskets here that you see in this
13:15:31 photo.
13:15:32 This is part of our teaching collection.
13:15:33 So these are the baskets that we let our students.
13:15:37 Practice there repairs and documentations on.
13:15:44 So further on materials as conservatives,
13:15:48 we looked at, you know, just sort of broad definitions of the organic.
13:15:51 And the inorganic materials.
13:15:53 Basketry materials are usually organic.
13:15:55 So usually plant materials.
13:15:57 Things like roots.
13:15:58 Bark stems, leaves and grasses.
13:16:06 There, there may well be animal materials on baskets. That's,
13:16:10 that's definitely something that we see. So things like quills.
13:16:15 Or feather skin Beilein even hair.
13:16:19 So oftentimes they are decorative elements.
13:16:34 And then lastly, resins and plastics.
13:16:35 So a residence I'm thinking about some Southwest baskets that have
13:16:40 pine pitch as a waterproofing agents,
13:16:42 but there's also contemporary baskets made of resins and of course,
13:16:46 made of plastics.
13:16:48 Even though they're they may be synthetic.
13:16:48 They behave more like organic materials.
13:16:50 So we do consider them organic.
13:16:52 And that's versus the inorganic materials, things like metals,
13:16:55 ceramics, glass stone.
13:17:00 Those can be found definitely on baskets, metals,
13:17:00 I'm thinking with enclosures glass, if there's any beads,
13:17:04 things like that.
13:17:07 So,
13:17:07 if we are thinking about traditional traditionally made baskets,
13:17:12 We should consider how the basket is made. The basketry construction.
13:17:19 And it is important to remember that those natural materials are
13:17:22 harvested at some point.
13:17:34 Here I'm I can't go through all the harvesting methods,
13:17:37 but this is just an example. This is a harvesting Cedar bark.
13:17:41 So usually you make a small slit at the base of the tree,
13:17:43 and then you pull these long strips off the tree.
13:17:46 And then take off the outer bark and you're left with the smooth inner
13:17:49 Cedar bark.
13:17:54 And usually there are some traditions that go along with these
13:17:57 practices. I know for Cedar bark,
13:17:59 there's only one strip per tree taken because the tree doesn't regard
13:18:03 route, bro, that bark.
13:18:05 Also for Cedar bark, there's usually a curing time.
13:18:07 Could be up to a year.
13:18:09 And then there is some sort of processing.
13:18:12 So for Cedar bark, usually after the curing time,
13:18:18 The Cedar bark soaked.
13:18:20 Some of the soaking process can remove the natural products and just
13:18:24 make the bark more appliable.
13:18:25 And more suitable for weeding.
13:18:37 So in terms of construction techniques,
13:18:39 there are three main ones and there's all sorts of variations,
13:18:43 but these are the three main techniques that we see in Northwest coast
13:18:46 basketry, but there are also techniques.
13:18:48 That are used all over the world for making baskets. So.
13:18:51 The first one is plating.
13:18:52 Which you see here.
13:18:53 So it's a checker weave and the weft crosses over and under one word
13:18:58 at a time.
13:18:59 And you get that nice. Checkerboards look, the next is coiling.
13:19:03 So here in coiling, you have this founded. Oops.
13:19:06 When, when.
13:19:12 Ahead too early. Anyways, here you have the foundation material,
13:19:16 which is usually quite strong.
13:19:18 And it's wrapped.
13:19:19 With a more subtle material. And then the coach.
13:19:22 Bills are.
13:19:26 Together either with sinew or another type of routes or woven
13:19:30 together.
13:19:31 Those baskets made with coiling are considered very strong.
13:19:34 And can even hold water and on the coast sometimes use for cooking.
13:19:47 And then lastly,
13:19:48 we have the twining and this is where two Wests cross over each other
13:19:53 two or more West cross over each other, between each warp.
13:20:11 And here is you can see an example of this type of weaving for this
13:20:15 really finely woven new childhood baskets.
13:20:17 And I'd like to point out the colored elements.
13:20:20 So those are usually natural dyed or Adelin died,
13:20:25 grasses or routes that are incorporated into the weaving.
13:20:28 So further on the decorative elements. I think it's,
13:20:31 it's good to talk about them because often they can be.
13:20:35 The areas that do.
13:20:37 R D starts falling apart.
13:20:39 Faster.
13:20:40 Than the rest of the basket.
13:20:41 I can go into why, but here we have a little Birch bark basket,
13:20:45 and I didn't talk about the construction of Birch bark baskets.
13:20:48 I mean, we definitely have a lot of them and I'm sure that.
13:20:50 You also have Birch bark baskets in your collection.
13:20:53 And those are just made by sewing the sheets of the harvested bark
13:20:56 together.
13:20:57 But often these baskets are decorated with quillwork or sometimes in
13:21:01 sizing.
13:21:02 And then the basket on the left.
13:21:03 Is little Brazilian baskets.
13:21:06 Decorated with died, horse hair.
13:21:21 Also,
13:21:21 we see a lot of implication on our basket as a design choice.
13:21:25 So imbrication involves taking another.
13:21:29 A strip of different colored material.
13:21:32 And you're weaving it back and forth.
13:21:33 In the wefts and falling it back on itself.
13:21:36 And a variation of this is called beading.
13:21:39 Where you're just going over and under the weft.
13:21:50 Of the basket and you can get this,
13:21:52 this kind of checkerboards appearance.
13:21:54 So one thing about the colored elements of these baskets.
13:21:59 Usually the red color is a cherry bark.
13:22:02 But often the darker colored strips are made by soaking the material
13:22:07 in an iron rich.
13:22:08 A solution. So either iron.
13:22:11 Richard from iron, from the soil sometimes.
13:22:19 Soaking things like iron nails or metals,
13:22:22 and you get that really dark black, Brown,
13:22:26 or even green color.
13:22:27 So the iron.
13:22:35 Acts as a mordant for any dyes that are used,
13:22:38 but unfortunately it also acts it,
13:22:39 it does speed up the deterioration process.
13:22:42 And we do find that a lot of this indication is very fragile.
13:22:45 So let's talk about damage.
13:22:47 And how damage can happen in your collection.
13:22:53 Usually there are sort of several things happening at once.
13:22:58 There's, there's not just one cause for damage.
13:23:01 It's usually sort of a process or an accumulation.
13:23:12 So because I'm in Canada,
13:23:12 I'm using the CCI or the Canadian conservation Institute model for
13:23:17 talking about deterioration.
13:23:18 And so CCI, I think this is a pretty general.
13:23:22 Way of looking at it though.
13:23:23 CCI has defined 10 agents of deterioration.
13:23:33 A physical forces, fire, pests, lights, incorrect,
13:23:37 relative humidity, beads and vandals, water pollutants,
13:23:41 incorrect temperature and disassociation.
13:23:44 So I'm I not going to go into depth into all of those,
13:23:48 but I really want to pick out the important ones and talk about how
13:23:51 we.
13:23:52 How we handle those at our museum.
13:23:54 So.
13:23:56 First.
13:23:57 Let's talk about physical deterioration.
13:24:00 So that's, I mean, with everything, right?
13:24:02 It can be a gradual.
13:24:04 Process that happens over time.
13:24:06 With organic materials. Definitely. They will.
13:24:11 You know,
13:24:12 take up water and release water humidity in their environments.
13:24:26 And there's sort of a constant swelling and shrinking swelling and
13:24:31 shrinking. And after a while,
13:24:32 it just gets harder to organic materials to retain that moisture.
13:24:37 So a lot of.
13:24:38 I hear from a lot of people who have.
13:24:40 Very dry, brittle baskets and are looking for a solution.
13:24:44 What should I do?
13:24:45 And one thing that we have seen or.
13:24:50 People have been recommended to apply some sort of a dressing or on
13:24:54 their baskets or washing their baskets.
13:24:56 And these in the long run.
13:25:04 Proved to be very, very detrimental.
13:25:06 So these two images on the bottom,
13:25:09 we have a group of baskets or from a group of baskets in our
13:25:11 collection. So.
13:25:13 At one point.
13:25:14 The collector wanting to revive the look of their basket had washed it
13:25:18 in ivory soap.
13:25:22 And then had applied some sort of dressing, some sort of,
13:25:25 I don't know exactly what it was, but it's quite oily.
13:25:27 So now we have the basket in our collection.
13:25:29 I mean, you can see that it's a bit darkened or it has dark into bits.
13:25:32 But it also attracts, I mean, any dust just gets stuck to the surface.
13:25:36 And it just kind of keeps, you know, keeps.
13:25:39 It's incorporating this grime.
13:25:47 And it's impossible to get rid of it also, weeps,
13:25:49 if you can see at the bottom right underneath that,
13:25:51 we have to put a piece of Mylar underneath of all of them because they
13:25:54 just kind of.
13:25:55 Leak that oil all over the place.
13:25:57 So, first of all, physical forces, which is really.
13:26:01 A common way for objects to get damaged.
13:26:04 Especially.
13:26:09 You T utilitarian objects where people.
13:26:12 Tend to handle them as they would in.
13:26:32 Would have been handled in their lifetime.
13:26:34 So you can see both of these baskets were their areas of weakness
13:26:39 where, where they were handled. Right.
13:26:40 So along the handles on the side of the,
13:26:42 the first basket and then the tip of the lid,
13:26:44 the little knob at the lid on the second basket. So those are.
13:26:47 Definitely handling.
13:26:49 Happened during handling. And this is where.
13:26:50 Most damage occurs is during handling.
13:26:53 So at MOA.
13:26:56 What we do is we have these there's storage,
13:26:59 display handling mounts.
13:27:01 We have these black train mounts that we use for.
13:27:04 All of the objects that are appropriate.
13:27:06 So it doesn't work for things that are too heavy or too large.
13:27:09 But for things like baskets, it is really ideal.
13:27:12 These materials, all the materials use the it's pluses out.
13:27:22 Matt boards and metal edge. There's no adhesives,
13:27:26 which is what you'd want to avoid. If you have baskets in cases.
13:27:30 And it's just a really great way. You can see the objects.
13:27:41 Really well, you can move the object.
13:27:43 You can turn it around and look at different angles,
13:27:45 but you don't ever actually have to handle the object.
13:27:47 So I really think that these, these handling trays.
13:27:51 Have really saved a lot of wear and tear.
13:27:56 Especially, like I said,
13:27:57 in a museum where we are pulling things out of storage,
13:28:02 out of exhibit often for artists, researchers,
13:28:04 and classes to look at.
13:28:09 So I did include on the handouts are a black tray handling mounts.
13:28:14 I also want to say that when we were developing these mounts,
13:28:17 we did have a lot of community consultation.
13:28:20 Because definitely there are other archival foams out there.
13:28:34 But the plastic is archival.
13:28:36 We did get a lot of feedback from communities who didn't really like
13:28:40 the clinical look of the white at the foam or Tyvec.
13:28:44 So they much preferred the black and in our galleries that does kind
13:28:47 of just make the objects.
13:28:48 Pop a bit more.
13:28:50 And it also just gives that little extra protection against any
13:28:52 vibrations since we are in an earthquake zone.
13:28:55 I also wanted to mention packing for storage or travel. So.
13:29:09 Like I said, our objects, do you travel?
13:29:12 Whether they're going into communities or whether they are going on
13:29:15 loan to other institutions.
13:29:16 And I just wanted to show you some of these images and it's all
13:29:20 archival materials. So we've got.
13:29:22 At the foam cutouts lined with Ty Beck.
13:29:26 In a core plast box.
13:29:27 Todd stabilized with a bit of twill tape.
13:29:29 And here's a, here's another image.
13:29:31 So these just ensure that those objects do not move around.
13:29:34 In the box while they're in transit.
13:29:36 And something like this might also be appropriate.
13:29:42 For storage. If you have a particularly vulnerable object,
13:29:45 the white at the foam and the tie back really does.
13:29:52 You can notice if there's any flaking or any insect activity or
13:29:55 anything like that,
13:29:56 you can notice it right away against the white foam.
13:29:59 And we also take our black tray.
13:30:02 The, the concept and the materials.
13:30:10 And then the supports over to some exhibition mounts.
13:30:13 So here we have this little Northwest coast hat.
13:30:22 And the interior supports is made of the plastic out and Matt board.
13:30:28 But now it's just a cure to a breast mound, which we can fit.
13:30:33 It fits into the hardware of our cases and it's just carrying the
13:30:35 black tray concepts into a different mountains,
13:30:38 but it's still stable and keeps the object safe.
13:30:42 So the next thing I wanted to talk about were pests.
13:30:53 And when I did approach some smaller museums and cultural centers
13:30:58 about things that did worry them or their main concerns around their
13:31:02 collection.
13:31:04 Pest really was a number one.
13:31:06 Concern.
13:31:14 So when I say PEs, I mean, we can include molds,
13:31:18 fungus microorganisms,
13:31:20 but really it's insects and rodents.
13:31:23 So insects will eat some basketry materials as you can see.
13:31:27 On the, the slide on the rights.
13:31:29 There's Bo.
13:31:30 Burrowing insects that has made holes in this basket.
13:31:34 But they can also be attracted to any dirt's that is on your objects,
13:31:40 whether it's dirt from use or just a dusty buildup.
13:31:44 And then rodents are always,
13:31:46 rodents are always a concern if they are in your building.
13:31:48 And if you do have a big rodent problem,
13:31:50 I think that.
13:31:51 You do need the advice of a professional exterminator.
13:31:54 But for insect pests.
13:31:55 We do have a very rigorous IPM.
13:31:59 Program, which is an integrated pest management program.
13:32:04 And it's it's rigorous. We have there's three main steps.
13:32:08 And the first is anything that comes into the museum.
13:32:18 Is frozen. If it can't be frozen, then we put it in a NOC,
13:32:22 SIA, and anoxia is just an oxygen deprived environments.
13:32:25 So freezing, we freeze for two weeks at minus 20 degrees Celsius.
13:32:29 And for a Nakia, this is an example of just a small chamber.
13:32:39 And that that's that we built,
13:32:42 that we build for our objects going through anoxia it's made of the
13:32:46 silver is Marvis seal.
13:32:58 Which is a vapor barrier.
13:33:00 And then the top clear coat is a scowl,
13:33:03 which is like more of a seal. The advantages you can see through it,
13:33:07 the disadvantages it's a little bit more expensive.
13:33:09 So there are times when you absolutely want to see what's going on in.
13:33:24 You're anoxia environment.
13:33:25 So a scout is a really good choice for that. If not,
13:33:28 you can make a whole enclosure out of Marvis deal.
13:33:32 And so if you can see right on the right of the screen,
13:33:34 there's a little basket at the edge. That is,
13:33:38 that's a new challenge with a woven basket and it's woven around a
13:33:41 bottle. So the glass not so great for.
13:33:44 Freezer. That's why it was put in anoxia.
13:33:46 So that's the first step of the IPM. The second step is monitoring.
13:33:49 So we use sticky traps. We don't use any,
13:33:52 any poisons or pest controls.
13:33:54 We just use sticky chops and it just helps us keep track.
13:33:56 Of what types of insects are entering the building?
13:33:59 And we monitor those every week.
13:34:00 We can see patterns.
13:34:02 Certain times of the year, but it's just,
13:34:04 it's just kind of the first line of defense.
13:34:05 And then housekeeping is also extremely important.
13:34:09 That of course no food or drink in collections.
13:34:12 Areas in galleries, in storage areas,
13:34:15 even in our works spaces,
13:34:16 adjacent to those areas that we have no food or drink.
13:34:19 And just keeping things free of clutter.
13:34:25 Next let's talk about light damage.
13:34:27 So for baskets,
13:34:29 Especially those.
13:34:35 Those natural dyes are those aniline dyes, which a lot of,
13:34:39 some of the traditional.
13:34:42 Grasses were were dyed with are extremely sensitive to light.
13:34:55 So you can see, this is the same basket.
13:34:57 The photo on the right is the interior of the lids,
13:34:59 which has not been exposed to light. And the photo on the left is the,
13:35:02 the part that is facing.
13:35:06 The light. So you can see that light damage is,
13:35:09 is definitely worse for organic materials. And it's,
13:35:13 it's cumulative.
13:35:14 So it just keeps happening.
13:35:24 At the museum. I mean, we have, in our Multiversity galleries,
13:35:28 we have very, very low light levels.
13:35:30 Our standard light levels are about 150 Lux,
13:35:33 but for organic materials, it's 50 Lux.
13:35:35 So that's all organic. So textiles, paper, basketry, everything.
13:35:39 And then we also do a rotation once a year.
13:35:42 So for things like textiles or even baskets,
13:35:47 You can turn things right?
13:35:48 So they can be on exhibit for a year and a year. You can turn it.
13:35:51 So the back is facing out.
13:35:53 Being exposed to the light.
13:35:54 And then after two years,
13:35:56 it's taken off exhibits works on paper a bit different.
13:36:05 But that is just one,
13:36:06 one way that we stop that cumulative effect of light damage.
13:36:10 Plus it allows us to exhibit more of our collection.
13:36:13 Now I'd like to talk about pollutants.
13:36:16 And so pollutants are things that are in the atmosphere.
13:36:24 And we talk about sort of gases that are in the atmosphere or VOC.
13:36:28 That's volatile, organic compounds and a lot of those.
13:36:31 That we are very wary of.
13:36:33 Come from.
13:36:41 Things that have been used to build casework or exhibit show or
13:36:45 storage shelves.
13:36:46 So things like woods.
13:36:48 We'll release VOC over time.
13:36:58 Things like particle board is, are particularly nasty.
13:37:01 There's lots of formaldehydes. So you get this, these gaseous format,
13:37:04 formic acids in the air.
13:37:06 But also dust is considered a pollutant.
13:37:09 I know it's dust is everywhere.
13:37:19 Its omnipresence,
13:37:20 but you really can't consider it innocuous because there's just so
13:37:24 many things in dust. It's millions of different particles,
13:37:27 pollens and abrasive materials and skin cells.
13:37:31 Everything. So does should not be considered an Oculus.
13:37:34 Also a build up of dust will definitely create a micro environments on
13:37:38 your object, which can just further.
13:37:40 Make acidic environments and caused deterioration.
13:37:43 Now this example here, this is, I had theirs.
13:37:52 I mean, this is a lot of dust.
13:37:53 So this is accumulated dust over a long period of time.
13:37:56 And definitely, you know, it's kind of city,
13:38:00 city dust. So it's very, very sticky.
13:38:03 And so just the,
13:38:04 you can tell it's changed the color and the overall look of this hats,
13:38:08 and it did require quite a bit of intervention to take it off.
13:38:12 But at the same time that dust layer did tend to preserve those,
13:38:15 those, the colors and the pattern a little bit. So.
13:38:18 That's one thing, but generally we try to get rid of dust.
13:38:22 And so now I have a cautionary tale for you concerning pollutants.
13:38:29 So the photo on the right, that is our old visible storage gallery,
13:38:33 which was built in.
13:38:34 1976.
13:38:38 So you can see it does look quite dated and it has that kind of nasty
13:38:41 particle board in the back.
13:38:50 And those sliding glass doors, it's not airtight.
13:38:53 So the dust would really, really accumulate in those,
13:38:56 in those visible storage areas.
13:39:01 So then on the left,
13:39:02 there's our beautiful new Multiversity galleries with the cases that
13:39:07 are airtight and are not letting in any dust.
13:39:09 But what we didn't anticipate.
13:39:12 We're some reactions that.
13:39:15 Some reactions in the cases.
13:39:16 So although those cases are made of a nerd materials like glass.
13:39:20 And powder-coated steel. There was a petite.
13:39:32 That was you on the metal to the glass and I'm a silicone gasket and
13:39:36 lo and behold, those two things reacted together. And now we have.
13:39:39 The these crystal deposits that are on our objects.
13:39:42 So this is of course it's, it's really a terrible situation.
13:39:45 And I think what I, my take away from this.
13:39:55 Is, I mean, first of all,
13:39:56 this is the perfect example of pollutants in your cases and why
13:40:00 they're not good. So.
13:40:03 Eric's change in cases. It's good. So airtight case,
13:40:06 if you have air tight cases are not good.
13:40:08 Because you're just trapping.
13:40:17 Everything in the case, even,
13:40:19 even sort of the objects will off gas themselves. So they're,
13:40:23 our VOC is just coming from the objects.
13:40:25 So airtight is not necessarily good.
13:40:27 Having some air exchanges goods barring that I don't know if I would
13:40:31 ever recommend having a completely airtight case.
13:40:33 So live and learn.
13:40:44 But now I wanted to show you our storage area and how we are kind of
13:40:49 dealing with the pollutants in the area.
13:40:50 So this is just an example of this is our basket tree area and the
13:40:54 storage area. You can see the black trays.
13:40:55 The trays are just a little bit bigger than the object. So there's no.
13:40:58 Chance of them bumping into each other. So they're, they're safe.
13:41:01 They're at a safe distance.
13:41:11 If you can see those bars up towards the top of the photo,
13:41:15 those are earthquake bars. So we, as I said before,
13:41:18 we do live in an earthquake zone.
13:41:19 So earthquakes are something that we're always thinking of and it just
13:41:22 adds a little bit extra stabilization.
13:41:27 But we do think about dust a lot in our area and our storage areas.
13:41:30 So one of the things that we've done is we've made these dust covers
13:41:35 for our outer facing units.
13:41:37 This is just.
13:41:38 Pieces of Muslim that have been pieced together and we have some
13:41:42 Velcro just along the edges, so you can just peel them back and.
13:41:45 Access the, the objects as you need.
13:41:47 We also for certain items,
13:41:49 we have these little dust covers.
13:41:52 That are made of either.
13:41:53 Holly techs or be may.
13:41:55 And they are custom made for.
13:42:06 Each item and if they are covered up,
13:42:09 we usually have a photo with the excession number and just the objects
13:42:12 that you, so you know what you're,
13:42:14 you don't have to take off the cover.
13:42:15 To find out what it is.
13:42:22 And then before in the entrance of all our storage areas,
13:42:25 we have these sticky mats,
13:42:26 which just take the dirt off your shoes and you can peel them away
13:42:29 once they're, once they're dirty, revealing.
13:42:31 The next sticky mats underneath.
13:42:33 So now.
13:42:34 I'm worried about incorrect humidity and temperature.
13:42:37 Often those things go hand in hands.
13:42:41 So on the left is an example.
13:42:54 And that's an extreme example, but that's just some remnants.
13:42:58 That's not the whole basket.
13:42:59 That's just sort of things that have flaked off a very dried out
13:43:03 basket. You can see the implication there and some.
13:43:05 Coiling elements.
13:43:06 I'm definitely not the whole basket. I just wanted a dramatic photo.
13:43:09 So that's, if, if things get too dry, that's what you're looking at.
13:43:13 And then high humidity.
13:43:15 And high heats. The worst,
13:43:17 worst case scenario is a mold growth.
13:43:26 So this again is a very extreme example,
13:43:29 but we really want to keep those the humidity and the temperature is
13:43:34 stable as possible.
13:43:36 At the museum.
13:43:37 We have three levels.
13:43:46 Of monitoring or three different ways that we monitor the temperature
13:43:49 and humidity, because we are a part of a very large university.
13:43:53 We have the university plant operations who has building sensors.
13:43:57 But we also like to keep an eye on it ourselves.
13:44:00 We used to use these hobo data loggers up in the left-hand corner.
13:44:05 But we've recently switched to a local product in development.
13:44:10 These they're called buttons and you can everything's online so you
13:44:14 can look and you can figure out the.
13:44:15 The environmental parameters at any time.
13:44:18 So, you know, you want to stay as, even as possible.
13:44:22 You usually between 45 and 55%.
13:44:26 Relative humidity and between.
13:44:29 20 and 21 degrees.
13:44:32 Celsius.
13:44:51 So I think the important takeaway is about humidity is fluctuations
13:44:56 are really detrimental.
13:44:58 So you want to avoid fluctuations as much as possible because when you
13:45:02 get the fluctuating,
13:45:03 that's when you get the expansion and the contraction,
13:45:05 and that's when the damage starts to occur.
13:45:07 So even if your humidity is a little bit on the low sides,
13:45:11 As long, you know, say it's at 40%.
13:45:13 As long as it stays at 40% and doesn't do fluctuate dramatically over
13:45:18 at say a 24 hour period. You should be okay.
13:45:22 It's really the fluctuations that are bad.
13:45:23 So for controlling humidity.
13:45:24 We can use things like silica gel.
13:45:26 There's also the Dessie packs.
13:45:29 Or arts org, which I believe is available from.
13:45:32 From talus. And those, if you have a,
13:45:36 if you have something that needs to be really stable,
13:45:42 You can use these things to keep the humidity stable.
13:45:46 So here, I just wanted to show you, so we use the same.
13:45:52 A little black boxes and we can tuck them into either exhibit cases or
13:45:56 in our dry cabinets.
13:45:58 Just to, to maintain the, the relative humidity.
13:46:03 So I know when we were talking about our agents of deterioration.
13:46:13 We did have fire and water on there. And for us,
13:46:17 that's more of those things. If you're dealing with lots of water,
13:46:21 And lots of, lots of water, like in a flood situation or a fire.
13:46:25 It's really, it falls into emergency for us.
13:46:29 So we've always had these big red salvage kits that are on wheels.
13:46:36 We have a couple of them and they are,
13:46:38 they were specifically made in case there was an earthquake.
13:46:41 But then just a couple of years ago, we had a flood.
13:46:45 Because a water main broke just outside our front door.
13:46:57 And we're actually a little bit below street level.
13:46:59 So the water came rushing down the stairs through the entrance,
13:47:02 and then just at the edge,
13:47:04 it just stopped right before it entered the great hall.
13:47:10 So we did Abel, you were able to use a salvage kids,
13:47:12 but now we have just a kit that's dedicated,
13:47:15 dedicated to floods and two seeping up a lot of water very quickly.
13:47:19 So I think talking about emergency planning and salvage,
13:47:23 that sort of a whole other topic.
13:47:25 But it's, it's something that I believe every museum should,
13:47:28 should be planning for.
13:47:33 I did want to talk about treatments,
13:47:36 basket treatment, and how we would treat a basket.
13:47:39 Because.
13:47:42 So you could recognize those baskets if they came into your
13:47:44 collection.
13:47:46 And just to, just to show you how we do.
13:47:51 Deal with things like that. And why, why we do treatments?
13:47:58 So generally treatment conservation treatment is considered an
13:48:03 intervention.
13:48:06 So it's, it's a bit beyond just the preventative stuff.
13:48:09 If you have your prevented stuff,
13:48:10 it really stops the need for intervention.
13:48:12 But if you do say you have a new basket coming into your collection.
13:48:21 And you find that it is just degrading and its current condition is
13:48:25 causing further deterioration.
13:48:26 Then it is time to maybe look at treating that baskets.
13:48:29 Also the danger of disassociation.
13:48:32 I think is,
13:48:33 is a concern and it is one of the main agents of deterioration.
13:48:38 Sometimes bringing two things together.
13:48:42 In a cohesive way is worth the intervention and doing a treatment.
13:48:47 And for us, I mean, you know, we will do treatments before.
13:48:56 Something goes on exhibits.
13:48:58 And so that's usually a discussion with the curator and, but we do,
13:49:01 we consider all the things before we even.
13:49:03 We consider history, abuse, and construction.
13:49:09 And what really is best for the basket. If,
13:49:11 if the basket is going to be harmed by any treatment,
13:49:15 we wouldn't do it. It really has to be.
13:49:17 Stabilized or just contribute to the integrity.
13:49:20 Of the overall piece.
13:49:25 So I'm cleaning is considered treatment.
13:49:28 In some cases, I think dry cleaning or dusting is not.
13:49:31 Not necessarily a treatment.
13:49:33 It's just good housekeeping and good maintenance. So dry cleaning.
13:49:43 Is just reuse a soft, natural fiber brush.
13:49:46 And here we have a vacuum attachments, just a screen.
13:49:50 Over the hose and you just gently.
13:49:59 The hose never touches the basket.
13:50:00 That's what you're using the brush forward,
13:50:02 just to vacuum any dust or debris into the hose.
13:50:05 And then the mesh just stops. If, if you know,
13:50:07 by any chance something does come off the basket.
13:50:09 It stops it from going into the vacuum so you can take it off and
13:50:11 save.
13:50:13 Say that piece.
13:50:14 And then also, so this is, this is.
13:50:16 A spot cleaning treatment that was done. And.
13:50:23 I mean,
13:50:24 I think every museum has these kind of old school et session or a
13:50:29 catalog numbers.
13:50:30 Apply to them. So, you know, the white out with the black marker.
13:50:34 And so this was reduced.
13:50:50 Because we just didn't want that on the surface of the basket anymore.
13:50:53 So the way to approach something like this would be to remove it as
13:50:56 much as you could gently and mechanically either with toothpicks or
13:51:00 something that will chip away at that white outs.
13:51:02 And then maybe using a very damp solvents are very depth swab.
13:51:07 With a little bit of either acetone and water or a water,
13:51:12 but just very damn.
13:51:13 And you ha you have to make sure that you just stay on.
13:51:19 That, that accretion that's there because you don't,
13:51:22 especially if your baskets dry,
13:51:23 you don't want any of that moisture coming in contact with your
13:51:26 basket, because it will stain.
13:51:27 And there.
13:51:28 At the last image is our new excession number. Very discreet.
13:51:32 Very tiny.
13:51:33 We use just acid-free paper applied with Lascaux.
13:51:55 And then just a note about what cleaning.
13:51:57 So if you have a wet basket, a basket from a wet site,
13:52:00 it is completely feasible to create it or to clean it while it's wet,
13:52:06 but you have to use water. What we use is a Cavitron,
13:52:09 which is the same thing that the dentist.
13:52:11 Uses on your teeth.
13:52:12 And it's just ultrasonic vibration.
13:52:15 And you have to use it with running water.
13:52:16 So there should always be water running as you're using your Cavitron.
13:52:19 And it does that the Cavitron doesn't touch the surface,
13:52:21 but it just kind of shakes that dirt away.
13:52:24 And then reshaping.
13:52:25 Also there's, there's a case to be made for reshaping,
13:52:28 especially if an OBS, if a basket is going on exhibits.
13:52:31 So.
13:52:34 I mean, this is a, this is not a common look,
13:52:38 but it does happen to baskets.
13:52:38 They just kind of fall in on themselves or they've been stored really
13:52:41 poorly.
13:52:42 So they get kind of worked looking. So when we do a reshaping.
13:52:51 We usually either do them in a humidification chamber,
13:52:55 like this small little basket on the left.
13:52:57 So what that is is there's.
13:52:59 Gore-Tex a sheet of Gore-Tex and then some wetted out a blotter.
13:53:09 On top of the Gore-Tex and then the whole thing is in a polyethylene
13:53:13 bag and it just gives enough moisture to,
13:53:16 to make the basket a little bit more malleable.
13:53:18 And then if you don't want to put the whole basket into a chamber,
13:53:22 You can do spot humidify, humidification as well.
13:53:24 So there you're just making a sandwich.
13:53:26 So you've got the Gore-Tex layer.
13:53:28 And then the, what it out.
13:53:30 Blotter on top of that.
13:53:32 And then between some Mylar.
13:53:35 So you just humidifying that one point.
13:53:43 And then once your basket is humidified,
13:53:45 you can do a bit of reshaping. So it definitely needs some support.
13:53:49 So these are two different examples of.
13:53:51 Just support while reshaping.
13:53:53 The first one on the left is using rare earth magnets.
13:53:56 And just pieces of white mat boards.
13:54:19 On the inside and the outside. So there's the, that's a tiny,
13:54:22 tiny basket. So it's would not be able to withstand a clamp.
13:54:26 And these are just kind of very,
13:54:27 very small clamps that's we were able to use on this basket.
13:54:31 It's bigger. It just holds the basket and the,
13:54:34 and the materials in place. So it can dry in the right shape.
13:54:37 Oh, and then this is also, this is just a support.
13:54:41 During.
13:54:42 For exhibition or storage, right? So this is just the cut mat boards.
13:54:45 Just a little bit up the size of these,
13:54:48 these toss cylindrical baskets tend to slump.
13:54:51 So this is just scored mat boards.
13:54:53 I'm giving it some support.
13:54:55 Again, there's no adhesive.
13:54:56 It's just the mat board is on the tray with metal edge.
13:55:00 A bit about the materials that we use for repairing baskets.
13:55:05 So there's really, there's only a few adhesives.
13:55:09 To consider.
13:55:10 There's the Japanese wheat starch paste.
13:55:19 There's carboxy methylcellulose there's PVA,
13:55:22 which is a polyvinyl acetate,
13:55:24 which is your white glue and Jade for.
13:55:27 Four. Oh, three is one of those archival white glues,
13:55:29 and then Lascaux really Mmm.
13:55:35 Only, I would only consider the top two, the wheat starch paste,
13:55:37 wheat starch paste, and the carboxy methylcellulose.
13:55:40 And then really only the wheat starch paste,
13:55:42 because they're strong enough.
13:55:43 To make the bond, but they're also completely irreversible in water.
13:55:47 And they.
13:55:56 It's just a really nice material to work with the, the,
13:55:59 the PVA and the Lascaux tend to leave your repairs glossy.
13:56:03 And it doesn't.
13:56:04 Fit well with the basket.
13:56:06 For patches and supports. Generally we use the Japanese tissue.
13:56:09 Tend to Japanese tissue or embroidery threads.
13:56:18 Sometimes imitation send you if it's more of a connection point or,
13:56:22 I mean, a lot of baskets do have send you ties.
13:56:24 So it can be used to, to reinforce those.
13:56:39 So this is a pretty old school, Japanese tissue repair.
13:56:42 So, and I'm, you know,
13:56:44 it's not really a repair that we would do right now,
13:56:46 but we do have a lot of these in our collection.
13:56:50 So it's just these tinted Japanese tissue bandages,
13:56:54 and you can see this particular ha had lots of losses.
13:56:57 So.
13:57:10 You know, it doesn't,
13:57:11 it doesn't hurt it in the long run and it's stable.
13:57:14 So we wouldn't necessarily remove that,
13:57:17 but it's just something to recognize.
13:57:18 If you see something like that in your collection,
13:57:20 it's not doing any damage.
13:57:21 And it's a pretty old school type of repair for basketry.
13:57:25 Now we go more for the twisted strands.
13:57:28 Which is like the tinted Japanese tissue.
13:57:31 Usually water cuts and then twisted.
13:57:33 And used as a, as a support.
13:57:39 Or a band-aid between two pieces that are coming apart. So they're,
13:57:43 they're hard to see,
13:57:44 but I hope he can see them there with the red arrows are pointing to
13:57:47 each one.
13:57:49 And then this is a different type of repair and it's not really that
13:57:53 common.
13:57:54 But it is a good example of how you can use Japanese tissue.
13:57:57 So basically this was an intern project and she basically
13:57:59 reconstructed.
13:58:02 Part of the bottom of this basket in the tinted Japanese tissue.
13:58:09 And it, you know, it looks good. It's not obtrusive it. Doesn't,
13:58:11 it's not distracting.
13:58:16 And it's also because it's, she used wheat starch paste. It's always,
13:58:18 it's completely reversible.
13:58:26 And this is, I know this slide is kind of hard to see,
13:58:28 but I've circled the repairs and read, and this was.
13:58:31 This is a really tiny basket and.
13:58:40 Embroidery thread and wheat starch paste.
13:58:42 We're used to just bridge that, that tear along the earth,
13:58:46 just underneath the rim.
13:58:50 And so finally there are also traditional repairs.
13:58:55 So.
13:59:07 Something that was repaired while the basket is still in use,
13:59:10 like this repair here at the bottom of the basket.
13:59:12 So this was done either by the maker or by the owner.
13:59:15 And definitely it's not something that we would ever remove.
13:59:18 It's actually pretty special. So.
13:59:19 That's something that we would want to hold on to.
13:59:21 So I'm going to stop there. That's all I have for now. Is it,
13:59:25 did we have some questions or did you want to.
13:59:27 Oh, we have questions everyone's been doing great in the Q and a box.
13:59:30 So.
13:59:31 That's perfect.
13:59:33 Okay.
13:59:33 Okay.
13:59:34 So you're more than welcome to keep sharing your screen,
13:59:36 or you can turn it off and we can start going through.
13:59:39 Okay.
13:59:40 They appeared here.
13:59:42 And thank you for that presentation. That was great. I am.
13:59:53 In a prior life,
13:59:54 I worked for a tribal museum and we had a lot of baskets.
13:59:56 So it's been quite fun to kind of be looking at all the different
13:59:58 baskets, styles and everything else you've been having on there.
14:00:01 For sure.
14:00:02 Oh, good. Good.
14:00:03 So, let me start with, I'll just start at the top for now.
14:00:04 And I'll jump around a little bit with the Q and a box. Just if I see.
14:00:07 Questions that are like, I will try to get to them,
14:00:09 but we'll be doing some jumping around as well. Okay.
14:00:19 So I'm one of the first questions that got put in was interested in
14:00:21 knowing if you asked your family visitors to wash their hands before
14:00:24 handling collections,
14:00:25 also do your staff handle the same objects with gloves.
14:00:28 Yes, we do. So in our research room.
14:00:31 Which is actually, I'm speaking to you right now for my research room.
14:00:32 And we have a sink I'm just kinda gonna pan over in that cabinet.
14:00:38 We have a sink and we always give family members.
14:00:42 We ask them to wash their hands.
14:00:43 And we ask them to wash their hands.
14:00:51 When they're finished, just because we do have,
14:00:54 we do have pesticides in our collection.
14:00:55 We have an XRF and we have done those studies and we found them.
14:00:58 And we're always concerned about transfer.
14:01:01 So we do, we do talk about that.
14:01:03 And encourage them to wash their hands.
14:01:06 Yes, I'm sorry, what was the second part of the, Oh, do we? Yes,
14:01:08 we handle with gloves always.
14:01:10 Yeah, that was my experience too.
14:01:17 When we had tribal members come in, we would, and you just say, Hey,
14:01:19 would you mind washing your hands? And most of them are like,
14:01:21 of course, especially like nowadays,
14:01:23 especially I think everyone's much more conscious of what I'm
14:01:24 watching.
14:01:26 Yeah.
14:01:27 Yeah, that's no big deal.
14:01:29 And the question that came in a little later,
14:01:30 which actually you and I had talked a little bit offline, was someone,
14:01:33 let me see if I can find that real quick,
14:01:34 but they were basically asking about.
14:01:39 The difference between what a collections manager or a registrar could
14:01:42 possibly do. And then what a conservator could do kind of,
14:01:44 and I didn't know if you wanted to talk about that a little bit and
14:01:46 just kind of, you know,
14:01:47 What your comfort?
14:01:48 What should be appropriate basically.
14:01:50 Well, I mean,
14:01:53 All the registrars and collections managers that I've ever met are
14:01:57 pretty impressive. Careful.
14:02:00 People.
14:02:05 And I think that, I mean, just the cleaning that, you know,
14:02:09 any sort of vacuuming, things like that.
14:02:12 Dry cleaning is, is definitely acceptable.
14:02:14 We have, you know, when we have students.
14:02:21 Come to us. We, they go through all parts of our collections area.
14:02:24 Like we're in the same department as collections.
14:02:27 We are the collections department.
14:02:28 So we share a lot of the same tasks.
14:02:36 It's in terms of Mount making or packing, things like that. Right.
14:02:39 So if your Mount making or packing, you are handling objects, so.
14:02:46 You know, we all, we're all on the same page. We do have, you know,
14:02:49 for new employees,
14:02:50 we have like the kind of the MOA training that we do.
14:02:53 And part of that is Karen handling.
14:02:57 Yeah. And just to make sure that I said their question correctly,
14:02:59 the original question was,
14:03:00 I'm curious as to how much these solutions can be performed by regular
14:03:02 collections management staff.
14:03:18 Versus when a conservator should be consulted. And I know for me,
14:03:21 cause like I said, I'm a registrar, I'm a collections person.
14:03:23 I feel like I can do there's certain tasks that either I've learned or
14:03:26 I can read through and be like, okay, if,
14:03:27 if something would go horribly wrong,
14:03:28 it's not going to hurt the object. Right.
14:03:30 But if I looking at it and go like, if something could go wrong,
14:03:32 I could hurt the lumps acted on that.
14:03:34 Comfortable doing those. That's when I kind of stop and go.
14:03:38 Consult with one of my conservative colleagues, for sure. Yeah.
14:03:40 If you can consult in, and that's why I think this form is great,
14:03:43 right? Because you can consult.
14:03:45 Because, I mean sometimes like, especially with water and baskets,
14:03:48 right.
14:03:50 Water can stain baskets really, really quickly.
14:03:52 So I would just be extremely wary of that.
14:03:54 And it's just a, it's just a little thing, right? It's just,
14:03:57 but it's something that as a conservator I always have at the
14:04:00 forefront. So I think consulting is good.
14:04:03 Someone said early on for the black imbrication fibers or the black
14:04:06 fibers, usually also cherry bark or are they usually Cedar?
14:04:09 I think it can depend. I think you can have a black cherry bark.
14:04:24 But there's other materials as well. So just because it's black,
14:04:28 it doesn't mean that it's not cherry bark.
14:04:29 I think that's something that's, that's used a lot. I mean,
14:04:31 Willow and other things are used.
14:04:33 I think there's kind of a range of things, depending on.
14:04:35 You know where it's, where you are, what environment you're in.
14:04:37 Someone asked,
14:04:38 can you repeat the materials you use for your handling trays?
14:04:41 Was that included in some of the resources you had put together for
14:04:43 us?
14:04:44 So I did give you a link.
14:04:47 I think, yeah,
14:04:49 I gave you a link to the MOA website and on the website,
14:04:52 we have that.
14:04:53 A whole instruction manual on how to make those black trays.
14:04:57 And so it's it's polyethylene, plastics, oats.
14:05:00 Is the black foam and then the acid-free mat boards.
14:05:04 So we did, we did test those in house years ago.
14:05:13 So, you know, if that was from a certain supplier. So it's just,
14:05:17 if you can find acid-free mat, board that's goods.
14:05:22 And the metal edge is also something that's used. I mean,
14:05:26 there's also various cutting tools that you, that you require.
14:05:29 But please have a look through that manual.
14:05:33 It's out there and I'd be happy to answer any questions.
14:05:35 Further down the line.
14:05:41 I read, put the link to our page in the chat and in the Q and a box.
14:05:44 And that leads directly to the handout that Marie okay.
14:05:46 Okay.
14:05:47 You should be able to access it that way as well.
14:05:56 There were a couple questions of just like,
14:05:57 where do you get your supplies? Like someone says, hello,
14:05:59 where can one find the metal edges?
14:06:00 Someone else was talking about the sticky mats,
14:06:02 which I'll find it here somewhere. And I love the sticky mats.
14:06:05 Cause it shows on gross everyone's shoes are as they go in.
14:06:08 But where do you find? And obviously you're up in Canada,
14:06:10 but what kind of people do you go to when it comes to the spies?
14:06:13 So for this, the sticky mats, we get them at Fisher scientific.
14:06:16 So I think that's a North American company.
14:06:19 As far. Yeah, it's not just Canada. So Fisher scientific has those.
14:06:22 There's another very large company that has them.
14:06:27 And which are pretty easy to find, but they're out there.
14:06:33 They're I think they're made for labs. So any lab supply?
14:06:36 Place would have it.
14:06:37 And the metal edge.
14:06:44 We do get that from a local company and it is in our,
14:06:49 in that.
14:06:50 In the black tray manual, there's a whole list.
14:06:53 Of supplies and where we get those supplies.
14:06:59 And that sort of local to Vancouver. So I'm not sure. Oh, Hollander.
14:07:02 I think we got it from maybe Hollander.
14:07:07 Someone just send a chat to that sticky mats come from the computer
14:07:10 clean room industry. So there are a lot easier to find.
14:07:13 And also someone worked with a sports supplier.
14:07:15 They're common for basketball courts as well.
14:07:18 That's one thing I love about museum stuff is sometimes we just find
14:07:20 stuff in weird spots and we're like, that'll work.
14:07:21 Applications right.
14:07:23 Exactly.
14:07:27 There were also a lot of questions just related to IPM,
14:07:29 which I know CDC CareZone.
14:07:31 A whole webinar on IPM.
14:07:32 There's lots of resources out there for IB IPM.
14:07:39 But they, they asked,
14:07:40 can you say more about when you would freeze and when would you,
14:07:43 you would use an anoxia.
14:07:44 Okay, right. Sorry.
14:07:58 So also I did,
14:07:59 I think I did give you some handouts on the anoxia and the freezing.
14:08:03 So anoxia is appropriate when you're worried about the materials.
14:08:08 So there's certain materials that you don't necessarily want to put in
14:08:10 the freezer. So.
14:08:12 Glass.
14:08:13 You don't really want to put through the freezer.
14:08:14 Ceramics, you don't want to really put through the freezer.
14:08:16 They're in organic anyway,
14:08:17 so they wouldn't benefit from being frozen.
14:08:20 But shells, some things like that, some really layered things.
14:08:24 A bone we don't like to put through the freezer.
14:08:26 Those those materials are better for anoxia.
14:08:28 The example that I used in the, in the slides.
14:08:32 That was a bottle of basketry covered bottle.
14:08:37 So that's why we chose to put it in anoxia rather than the freezer.
14:08:40 We didn't want to put the glass through the freezer.
14:08:42 Is it.
14:08:43 I hope that answered the question.
14:08:45 And then yeah, there's the handout too.
14:08:48 It lists all the things to be paintings. You,
14:08:50 you wouldn't want to put a painting through the freezer or something
14:08:53 to heavily painted.
14:08:54 Right, right.
14:09:01 Someone did ask for the anoxia treatment.
14:09:03 Do you only rely on oxygen scavengers to reduce the level of oxygen in
14:09:06 the enclosure or is flushing with nitrogen or carbon dioxide used in
14:09:09 addition.
14:09:10 Well, I, I know that some people do that.
14:09:14 So at MOA, we don't do that. We, we rely on the oxygen scavengers.
14:09:17 I'm not saying I'm opposed to that. I, I be interested in doing that,
14:09:20 but it's just, it's.
14:09:21 It's not our common practice.
14:09:24 I'm reading really quickly through.
14:09:24 These are some really good questions.
14:09:33 So I'm kind of going through them as quickly as I can there.
14:09:36 Wasn't talk about just like supply kits for emergency information and
14:09:40 kind of, where do you, like, what do you have in them, which is.
14:09:43 To be honest you to seek care worth talking about setting up a webinar
14:09:45 pretty soon about emergency supply kits and stuff.
14:09:47 But do you have any advice for our listeners today?
14:09:49 I do.
14:09:50 So there's a fairly new group that's been started in British Columbia.
14:09:56 It's called the BC Hern and that sends for British Columbia.
14:10:00 Heritage emergency response network.
14:10:13 There's a website and it also has lots of links to how to build an
14:10:18 emergency kit. What kind of supplies you want.
14:10:20 So I think when you're putting together an emergency kits,
14:10:23 You know,
14:10:33 You want to think like, so, okay.
14:10:35 I showed you now that we have the flood kids.
14:10:36 So the flood kid is really to just stop water. Right?
14:10:40 So have some absorbent, super absorbent materials.
14:10:43 And then our salvage kids are more for collection salvage.
14:10:45 So things like.
14:10:52 Alpha knives and tarps and, you know,
14:10:55 string and clothes pins. Right.
14:10:57 So if you wanted to say you had a bunch of works on paper and you want
14:11:00 it to hang them up to dry,
14:11:02 just everything that you might need to do salvage.
14:11:06 So.
14:11:07 You know, there are some more resources out there.
14:11:09 I'd be happy to answer.
14:11:10 Or send along some more materials,
14:11:12 but I do suggest to check out that BC Hearn websites and Robin,
14:11:16 do you want me to send you a link to that or.
14:11:19 Okay.
14:11:19 And we'll update on that.
14:11:20 That on the website as well, just as more references.
14:11:22 And we can probably even add that to the CDC.
14:11:24 CDC care website resources list,
14:11:26 which is a whole other kind of little section.
14:11:28 I'd be happy to do that.
14:11:30 Someone was asking, just kind of like, how do you clean a very dusty,
14:11:33 dirty basket? Like if you're just came across one,
14:11:35 what would be like your first steps when dealing with that kind of a
14:11:37 thing?
14:11:38 Well,
14:11:39 I guess the first thing that I would do would be used the soft brush.
14:11:43 And the mesh cupboard nozzle,
14:11:45 just to take off all that surface dirt.
14:11:48 Right.
14:11:49 And try to get as much off as you can.
14:11:53 I think the next step, I might try some.
14:12:05 Either cosmetic sponges. I mean, not wet. Just the,
14:12:07 just the sponges to see if you can get off any more ingrained dirt's
14:12:11 or there's the groom stick. Do you have green stick? Right?
14:12:17 Yeah, a groom sticks. So it's just natural rubbery thing that you,
14:12:22 you don't rub it on the object.
14:12:23 You just kind of go pass over the object to get any more ingrained
14:12:27 dirt.
14:12:28 It's kind of a process, right?
14:12:29 You start with the least interventive and then you carry on from
14:12:33 there.
14:12:34 There were also people asking about suppliers for the sinew and
14:12:38 Gore-Tex the imitation sinew.
14:12:39 Oh,
14:12:40 Top of your head. They're also looking at Israel, which might add.
14:12:42 Oh,
14:12:44 Oh,
14:12:45 So, I guess maybe they might not have Michael's in Israel.
14:12:47 I don't know.
14:13:00 So crafts, you know, the sinew is craft, supply, stop shops,
14:13:04 but you can, you can make your own right with a colored wax,
14:13:08 and, you know, you could add pigment to any,
14:13:11 any wax and then coat.
14:13:12 A piece of fabric or some threads. So yeah,
14:13:16 I know that we get ours from.
14:13:18 Like just art supply, craft supply.
14:13:20 Places.
14:13:21 We have two questions released rating to the, and I'm going to.
14:13:23 Not do good at naming this, the plastic.
14:13:29 Basically, they're saying, what is it like chemical type of plastic?
14:13:31 Where can I buy it?
14:13:32 And then someone is also asking about the density and how are you
14:13:35 adhering the pieces?
14:13:36 Okay. So the plaster is oats.
14:13:40 It's polyethylene plastics out. So it's cross-linked so it doesn't,
14:13:44 it doesn't off gas.
14:13:56 There is different densities of it.
14:13:58 And there's the higher density is definitely easier to cut.
14:14:02 I'm sorry, I don't have that off the top of my head, the density,
14:14:04 but it is in the supply list on the.
14:14:07 On the handouts.
14:14:08 So we get it up from a place called Norsemen, all foam.
14:14:11 And that is located on the lower mainland in British Columbia,
14:14:14 but I'm sure.
14:14:15 I'm sure I'm certain that you can get that foam.
14:14:18 Through other suppliers like.
14:14:20 The yeah. It's polyethylene plastics, oats.
14:14:21 Or pluses.
14:14:22 It comes in.
14:14:24 Gray and black.
14:14:30 And it does actually, it comes in white as well, but the we've chosen.
14:14:35 The density in the handout because it's easy because of it's high,
14:14:38 it's easy to work with.
14:14:40 And there was one more part of that question that.
14:14:47 That I can jump back and look, unless I'm looking for that though.
14:14:49 Someone did ask why you guys chose the black foam.
14:14:51 The white foam.
14:14:52 Sorry. Okay. I'll answer that. I just remember the other.
14:14:55 Part of that question was if we use adhesive or what kind of adhesive.
14:14:58 And I think the.
14:15:05 The reason why we do those black trays and why they're made the way
14:15:07 they are it's. So we don't have to use adhesive.
14:15:14 We really, really wanted to avoid that because it's, you know,
14:15:16 there's lots of things in adhesive that off gas and you don't want
14:15:20 that.
14:15:21 Offgassing in your, in your exhibit spaces. So we use metal edge,
14:15:25 so it's just basically scoring.
14:15:27 The bottom of, of your plastic totes.
14:15:32 And hammering out your metal edge and then you hammer the metal edge
14:15:35 to your mat board. It works really, really well. It's very secure.
14:15:40 And then the other question was why you guys chose black foam for the
14:15:44 artifact storage rather than wait.
14:15:56 So when we were in the planning process of the Multiversity galleries,
14:16:01 it was part of a larger project called the partnership with peoples.
14:16:05 And so we had a lot of community consultation.
14:16:08 We brought peop community members in, and we had a,
14:16:11 we had all sorts of different variations of,
14:16:14 of different mounts in different materials.
14:16:16 You know, do you like this? We had,
14:16:17 we had just the plain white at the phone.
14:16:21 Which was deemed to be too clinical looking, which,
14:16:25 you know, I, I totally agree. We had lots of advice on.
14:16:38 Like sort of model pole,
14:16:39 mounts and where they were fastened to their secure or to their,
14:16:45 to their mound. Right?
14:16:45 So you avoid things being secured around the neck.
14:16:49 You want things secure it at the base.
14:16:50 So the color really was,
14:16:52 it was the material that we were working with and it was,
14:16:54 there was a preference for the black.
14:16:57 Kind of connected along with that, someone asked,
14:16:59 do you conduct consultations with tribal members before performing
14:17:02 some or all treatments are kind of what's that process when you talk.
14:17:05 You can always, always, definitely a we do consults.
14:17:09 So, yeah, especially, you know, if we know that we can find.
14:17:16 Family members, current family members or community members, we will,
14:17:20 we will consult.
14:17:22 Either, you know,
14:17:23 either directly or we'll go through a curator that maybe has a
14:17:25 relationship.
14:17:26 Already established.
14:17:44 Yeah, I think that's incredibly important,
14:17:45 especially when you're dealing with those types of objects is to talk,
14:17:47 especially cause a lot of those,
14:17:48 at least my experience was since they had the knowledge to actually
14:17:51 build the baskets from ground up,
14:17:53 like just learning that process and understanding it helps when you
14:17:57 come up with your storage plans and all that other kinds of stuff.
14:17:58 It gives you some insider knowledge on how that will work. So.
14:18:01 Because most of those people.
14:18:02 Love to teach. That's fun to learn from them.
14:18:04 So that's the way I always.
14:18:05 We can learn so much.
14:18:06 This is interesting. Can you please define, does association?
14:18:09 So how would you define that?
14:18:10 So, I guess.
14:18:12 It's something with UN objects,
14:18:15 with a clear break or that's in several pieces.
14:18:18 Right. I think if something is in several pieces,
14:18:25 You know, not connected at all.
14:18:26 There is a danger of losing part of that object.
14:18:29 There's also.
14:18:36 You know,
14:18:37 a danger of it getting disassociated from its information record or
14:18:40 its catalog record. Right. So, you know, losing a catalog number.
14:18:44 You're not, I mean, if you.
14:18:45 I mean, we have probably over 50,000 objects.
14:18:48 If we lose a catalog number, it is, it is pretty serious. And we,
14:18:52 we don't have that information.
14:18:53 So we need the provenance and.
14:18:55 And also, we just don't want to lose pieces of the object. So.
14:18:58 Whether it's put in, in a closure or a stable mounts.
14:19:00 Keeping everything together.
14:19:05 Yeah, that's always one of the prime things is trying to keep all that
14:19:07 information together.
14:19:12 It can either get stored properly or scanned,
14:19:14 or maybe a digitized version if it's paperwork that comes along with
14:19:16 it, any of that kind of stuff.
14:19:23 Someone did ask a question about just kind of your budget for
14:19:25 collection management materials. They did.
14:19:27 They said you did not have to talk about like exact amount,
14:19:29 but just what percentage of it is it for your overall budget?
14:19:31 When you're doing your planning.
14:19:33 Well,
14:19:34 In 2021 or.
14:19:36 2018.
14:19:39 Well, I think.
14:19:49 We initially had a very large budget to get,
14:19:52 because we had, we had several grants from the.
14:19:55 Canadian foundation for innovation.
14:20:03 Sort of like a million dollar grant,
14:20:04 millions of dollars of grants to make all of those black trays, right.
14:20:08 To hire all those people, because it is very labor intensive.
14:20:11 And.
14:20:12 I can't tell you, I can't give you an exact dollar amount.
14:20:15 But.
14:20:16 I can say that we are supported by the university.
14:20:25 And because we are a teaching institution and we do want to,
14:20:30 you know,
14:20:32 Really show best practices.
14:20:36 You know, we do have, there is always the budget for materials and.
14:20:40 Archival materials. And if we can't.
14:20:52 If we ha, if we,
14:20:53 we won't envision a project and cut corners either will use the right
14:20:58 materials with the rights staffing or we won't do it.
14:21:01 Yeah.
14:21:03 I think that's Oh, go ahead.
14:21:04 So it felt like a politician there. When I answered that.
14:21:12 I know, like when I worked full-time at museums,
14:21:14 sometimes we'd be like, okay,
14:21:15 we're going to tackle that big project that deals with storage and
14:21:18 then your budget would explode for a year and you'd be trying to
14:21:21 figure out.
14:21:21 You know, all the fun stuff. And then other years you'd be like, Hey,
14:21:24 we're going to be working on a digitization project.
14:21:26 So then you're not as much money on storage materials.
14:21:28 So it just kinda depends.
14:21:29 Yeah.
14:21:30 Someone asked generically,
14:21:31 if you'd be willing to share your emergency plan and your IPM plan.
14:21:34 So, I don't know if he could contact you offline for that one.
14:21:36 So I did share a,
14:21:38 there was a couple of IPM documents that I did.
14:21:47 Pass along the,
14:21:48 those word documents ones on freezing and one is on anoxia,
14:21:51 but yes, I would be, I would be happy to share.
14:21:53 Or share information or answer any questions that you have.
14:22:04 I might get started doing some rapid fire questions to you,
14:22:06 so be prepared. And if you don't know, it's fine. But like I said,
14:22:09 there's still quite a few questions,
14:22:10 so I'll get through as many as I can. And.
14:22:17 Someone says freezing cycle two weeks completely in freezer,
14:22:19 or is there a period of resting at room temperature in between? Yes.
14:22:23 So two weeks,
14:22:24 that's our protocol and then a day rest.
14:22:27 Before we even, like, we take it out of the freezer,
14:22:29 it sits for a day.
14:22:35 And, or 24 hours.
14:22:37 And then we do the unwrapping and I always,
14:22:40 it's always important to have tissue around your, your object.
14:22:43 We wrap everything, right.
14:22:44 So we wrap it in tissue and then we wrap it in polyethylene and seal
14:22:47 it.
14:22:48 When dry cleaning, is there any detriment to the object?
14:22:50 If one uses a synthetic fiber Bush over a natural fiber brush.
14:22:55 No, I don't think so. As long as it's soft and not, you know,
14:22:58 some of those bristles can be quite rigid.
14:23:01 I think it's more about being soft.
14:23:06 Can you provide, well,
14:23:08 this is a reference for a published vocabulary dictionary for
14:23:10 describing parts of a basket.
14:23:12 Is there a guide that you would recommend or.
14:23:14 Any other kind of publication.
14:23:15 Well, there is a, I think in the bibliography there's.
14:23:18 That one resource.
14:23:19 Antique.
14:23:28 Native American baskets, something like that. They have a really,
14:23:30 really good comprehensive.
14:23:33 Descriptions, they go through it.
14:23:38 And talk about all the different parts. So I would, yeah. Look in the,
14:23:41 in the bibliography, it should be there.
14:23:43 Perfect.
14:23:44 How often do you perform preventative treatments like dusting and
14:23:46 cleaning?
14:23:48 Well, so often.
14:23:51 When things are first.
14:24:02 Succession. So we definitely, or when they,
14:24:05 when they're first acquired. So when they come into the museum,
14:24:07 that's when they get the most hands-on processing. Right. So cleaning.
14:24:11 And the freezing and the mounting, all that stuff.
14:24:13 And then, I mean, our storage areas are pretty good.
14:24:16 There. So.
14:24:17 They should go in there, clean.
14:24:24 And they, they should, you know, if something,
14:24:27 if something comes across and it is obviously a dirty, we will.
14:24:31 We will do that work, but it's,
14:24:33 we don't really have anything on a rotation schedule.
14:24:36 Because we things are pretty dust-free in storage areas.
14:24:44 In the cases. I mean, we have that crystal problems. So that is,
14:24:46 that is something that we aren't going to be addressing full-on soon.
14:24:55 Someone was asking me,
14:24:56 they really liked seeing all the materials that you're using.
14:24:58 So there's a lot of questions about that,
14:25:00 but they were asking about the dust covers.
14:25:01 Do you guys use Tyvec for the dust covers or what are you.
14:25:03 Well, you could use Tyvac, but most of them are Holly texts,
14:25:06 or we may.
14:25:07 So we call, I think you could, do you have remained in the States?
14:25:10 That's also called.
14:25:11 Pemulen I think, Oh, I think I've heard of that.
14:25:13 Yeah.
14:25:15 It's just the, it's like a, it's a polyester plastic polyester.
14:25:19 Okay.
14:25:24 Have you considered using Velux blanket fabric rather than bug screen
14:25:27 for covering the vacuum nozzle and dry cleaning?
14:25:29 Yes.
14:25:30 We have some.
14:25:32 What was the name of the adhesive to attach paper labels?
14:25:42 That's Lascaux so we use two different versions of Lascaux.
14:25:47 So there's usually one coat of the Lascaux three Oh three.
14:25:50 And then we add the paper label and then there's the coding of the
14:25:54 Lascaux four 98.
14:25:55 Okay.
14:26:02 It says I missed what material? Oh, wait, did we just say that one?
14:26:04 I missed what material used to fix the paper numbers to the baskets.
14:26:06 Can you repeat it in the Q and a.
14:26:07 Answered that one.
14:26:14 Sorry, y'all,
14:26:15 I'm also re pasting the survey link in the handouts and presentations,
14:26:18 like in the chat, which is why I was doing,
14:26:19 I was multitasking there for a second.
14:26:21 Can you discuss a little bit about how to clean mold from baskets?
14:26:23 Yeah.
14:26:25 So definitely if you are dealing with something like that,
14:26:36 You really need to protect yourself.
14:26:38 So either with a respirator or if you have access to a fume hoods,
14:26:42 I think that's really, really important.
14:26:49 So I would go through the same processes as I would do with,
14:26:54 with just sort of a dusting, right.
14:26:56 Have a soft brush.
14:26:58 Have your,
14:26:59 your cupboards vacuum nozzle.
14:27:03 But then once you're finished with that task,
14:27:05 then throw those things away or just keep them.
14:27:08 Contains and just use them for dealing with moldy baskets.
14:27:15 Yeah, mold is is,
14:27:16 is not a fun thing to deal with and you really have to be really,
14:27:19 really careful.
14:27:20 Yeah, I live in Florida, so we experienced bull.
14:27:23 Way too much in my day to day.
14:27:24 In my house sometimes.
14:27:25 It's like, Oh, that's fun.
14:27:36 This is interesting question.
14:27:37 So you were talking about the starch paste earlier.
14:27:39 Do you need to be concerned about it being an attractive for PEs when
14:27:42 you're using that kind of material?
14:27:43 Well, I guess it is edible.
14:27:49 But we are using it in very small quantities and we have that.
14:27:53 A really rigorous IPM program.
14:27:57 So it's not the first thing that comes to mind.
14:28:02 So, and usually we just mix it straight with water.
14:28:05 Or distilled water, but I have heard.
14:28:16 And maybe you should talk to you a paper conservator about that,
14:28:18 but sometimes they make it with a tiny bit of ethanol,
14:28:21 which I think is more of a deterrent,
14:28:22 but I can't really speak to that. We use water.
14:28:28 And we are,
14:28:30 we are use it's in such my new qualities and we have that IPM program.
14:28:34 So, so I'm not overly concerned about that.
14:28:46 Okay, so I'm going to try to grab two more. So this is,
14:28:49 are there any cons to storing baskets in archival boxes?
14:28:52 How would you prefer,
14:28:53 would you rather than having some supports or within a box itself?
14:28:56 I think boxes are fine. I mean, it's there protect protective and.
14:29:00 I mean, it's useful because if they're in a box,
14:29:02 you could feasibly stack them. Right.
14:29:04 And so you might be able to maximize your storage space.
14:29:07 Yeah, I think, I think boxes are fine. I would.
14:29:10 If I was, if I were storing things in boxes,
14:29:13 I'd always like to have a picture of the object or either a clear
14:29:16 window. So you could see what was inside the box.
14:29:18 Yeah.
14:29:20 I'm I'm a big proponent of if you have a large bulky items within
14:29:23 boxes, like if they're safer within the box, that's great.
14:29:25 But having that little picture on the outside.
14:29:27 Oh so much.
14:29:28 It doesn't have to be huge.
14:29:29 A little picture.
14:29:30 It just helps.
14:29:32 1 million times.
14:29:41 And then for this last question, I think this is interesting.
14:29:43 So are you setting up any new policies for new ethnographic bought
14:29:46 baskets made of plastics and other materials?
14:29:49 So have you seen anything come into your collection? That's maybe.
14:29:51 Made in the traditional manner, but different materials.
14:29:54 And are you guys kind of preparing to store those things?
14:29:56 You know, we haven't.
14:29:57 We haven't really seen any.
14:29:59 Baskets.
14:30:00 Per se.
14:30:01 But I mean,
14:30:08 And we don't have a huge amount of plastics in our collection.
14:30:11 We have some.
14:30:13 But not a lot, but it's definitely, I mean, we're, we,
14:30:16 we don't have a plan in place.
14:30:25 But definitely if,
14:30:27 if we start seeing a lot of those things coming in,
14:30:29 we'll definitely take the precautions to make sure that they're,
14:30:32 that they're okay. Like, yeah.
14:30:33 I mean,
14:30:34 we don't have a lot of cellulose nitrate or anything like that in our
14:30:37 collection.
14:30:38 Yeah, I think that's, that's amazing.
14:30:44 Then one of the most fun things of working with tribal collections
14:30:47 though, is that you'll see things made from newer materials.
14:30:50 That it's really cool to kind of see how the artwork has evolved.
14:30:53 Yeah.
14:30:55 The variations. That's a,
14:30:55 that's a super fun thing about working in those collections for sure.
14:30:58 Well, it is two 30 and there are still like 19 questions.
14:31:06 Thank you. So I want to apologize everyone.
14:31:09 I would like to keep going, but at the same time,
14:31:10 I'm mindful of people's time and what they can do.
14:31:12 So I will see if I can try to capture these somehow,
14:31:14 maybe get him to Maury so you can take a look at them.
14:31:17 Sure.
14:31:18 Just so everyone knows.
14:31:19 I did put the links again for the survey for this webinar and also for
14:31:22 the handout and presentations on the page.
14:31:34 Someone also mentioned that one of the links within the handout was
14:31:35 acting a little wonky.
14:31:37 So I'll take a look at that and just make sure that might be me when I
14:31:39 was converting thing.
14:31:40 So I will double check and make sure we will probably try to get this
14:31:44 webinar up by the end of the week. So I will be sure to do that.
14:31:47 Maureen,
14:31:48 do you have any other last minute things you'd like to say to the
14:31:50 crowd?
14:31:51 No. Just thank you. Thanks for, thanks for having me. It's really fun.
14:31:54 We really appreciate you taking some time today.
14:31:56 And I want to do a huge shout out and thanks to IMLS, to Maury,