I think it has something to do with preserving authenticity

According to Randy Kennedy writing in the Saturday March 4, 2017 issue of The New York Times (“Trying to Pin Down The Smell of History”), Jorge Otero-Pailos, director of historic preservation studies at Columbia University and his students are working with Christine Nelson, a curator of manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Carlos Benaim, a master perfumer at International Flavor and Fragrances to sample the molecules “off gassed” from the objects in the rooms of the Morgan Library & Museum buildings in order to characterize the smell profile of each. While there are no plans to create a “Morgan Library scent”, it is not inconceivable that one day scent may be used to enhance the visitor experience. I know that this project has a connection to the conservation of physical objects. I’m struggling with how to articulate that connection. Perhaps it has something to do with preserving authenticity.