AIC members can access all 2015 JAIC articles online now!

While print editions of issues 54.3 and 54.4 of JAIC have been delayed due in part to the transition to our new publisher (Taylor & Francis recently acquired Maney), AIC members can access all 7 articles online now, plus editorials and book reviews. Log into the AIC website, then visit www.conservation-us.org/jaic to get one-click access to all the latest research. Subscribers and members can expect their print issues to begin arriving in 2-4 weeks.
We are so excited about the research presented in these issues, and hope you will read through and enjoy. As always, the editorial is available as a free download to all.


Volume 54, Issue 4 (November, 2015)

EDITORIAL
Julio M. del Hoyo-Meléndez, Editor-in-Chief
AN INVESTIGATION INTO JAPINE PLATINUM PHOTOGRAPHS: WILLIAM WILLIS’S PROPRIETARY PAPER
Matthew L. Clarke, Constance Mccabe, Christopher A. Maines, Silvia A. Centeno, Lisa Barro, Anna Vila
AN EVALUATION OF SELECTED RETOUCHING MEDIA FOR ACRYLIC EMULSION PAINT
Nina L. Engel and Stefan Zumbühl
16TH- AND 17TH-CENTURY ITALIAN CHIAROSCURO WOODCUTS: INSTRUMENTAL ANALYSIS, DEGRADATION, AND CONSERVATION
Linda Stiber Morenus, Charlotte W. Eng, Naoko Takahatake, Diana C. Rambaldi


Volume 54, Issue 3 (August, 2015)

EDITORIAL
Julio M. del Hoyo-Meléndez, Editor-in-Chief
MOPA MOPA: SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS AND HISTORY OF AN UNUSUAL SOUTH AMERICAN RESIN USED BY THE INKA AND ARTISANS IN PASTO, COLOMBIA
Richard Newman, Emily Kaplan, Michele Derrick
ULTRAVIOLET-INDUCED VISIBLE FLUORESCENCE AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AS TOOLS FOR EXAMINING FEATHERWORK
Ellen Pearlstein, Melissa Hughs, Joy Mazurek, Kevin McGraw, Christel Pesme, Renée Riedler, Molly Gleeson
ANALYSIS OF FATTY ACIDS EXTRACTED FROM A WHALE SKELETON: ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF DEGREASING TREATMENT
Charlène Pelé, Bruno Bujoli, Élodie Guilminot, Gwenaël Lemoine, Isabelle Louvet, Laurent Poisson
ON THE PROTECTIVE NATURE OF WAX COATINGS FOR CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT OUTDOOR METALWORKS: MICROSTRUCTURAL FLAWS, OXIDATIVE CHANGES, AND BARRIER PROPERTIES
Natasja Swartz and Tami Lasseter Clare
BOOK REVIEWS
Mary Broadway, Rebecca Anne Rushfield, Doug Severson

AIC Ivory Position Paper

The Board of Directors of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works has recently approved a position paper prepared by Nina Owczarek, Stephanie Hornbeck, Jean Portell, and Terry Drayman-Weisser on the impact of U.S. government action on cultural property, legislation, and regulations relating to African elephant ivory.
The position paper is located on the AIC website at http://www.conservation-us.org/about-us/core-documents.
With thanks to everyone who assisted in the development of this paper,
AIC Board of Directors

AIC News November issue available to members now

AIC News Vol. 40, No. 6 coverThe November issue of AIC News (Vol. 40, No. 6) is now available for AIC members. Log into the website and visit www.conservation-us.org/aicnews to gain access to the latest issue.
Articles inside the issue include the lead article, “Strategies for the Storage of Cellulose Acetate Film,” by Douglas Nishimura; membership updates; annual meeting announcements; a Health & Safety Committee guide to selecting safety shoes plus tips on gels and masks; grant announcements; and a listing of conservation training program class internships and placements (and more). Specialty Groups and Networks are very active and have provided some interesting updates for their members. Also included in AIC News is a full listing of conferences and seminars to further your career.
AIC News is a great member benefit — if you don’t already belong to AIC as a member, this is a great time to join. Read more about AIC membership in the new member portal at http://www.conservation-us.org/membership/aic-member-center.
As always, comments about the newsletter and any AIC publications can be directed to me at bnaugle@conservation-us.org.

New JAIC issue online now

JAIC coverThe latest issue of JAIC (Journal of the American Institute for Conservation) is now online, and print copies are mailing shortly. This issue, Vol. 53, No. 2, features the following articles:

  • EDITORIAL, by Julio M. Del Hoyo-Meléndez, Editor-In-Chief
  • SHORT COMMUNICATION: GOBERGE, SHIMBARI, GO-BARS: THE USE OF FLEXIBLE STICKS FOR CLAMPING, by Tristram Bainbridge, Shayne Rivers, Yoshihiko Yamashita, Andrew Thackray, Nicola Newman
  • CHOOSING AN ADHESIVE FOR EXTERIOR WOODWORK THROUGH MECHANICAL TESTING, by Rian M. H. Deurenberg-Wilkinson
  • SOURCE CODE ANALYSIS AS TECHNICAL ART HISTORY, by Deena Engel and Glenn Wharton
  • RAISING MERET-IT-ES: EXAMINING AND CONSERVING AN EGYPTIAN ANTHROPOID COFFIN FROM 380–250 BCE, by Kathleen M. Garland, Johanna Bernstein, Joe Rogers
  • BOOK REVIEWS, by Vanessa Muros and Cybele Tom

AIC members and journal subscribers have online access to these articles now, before the print issue arrives. We hope you enjoy these articles, which bring some very interesting techniques and research to light.

Read more about the journal at http://www.maneyonline.com/loi/jac, or review the submission guidelines and JAIC style guide at http://www.conservation-us.org/jaic.

Education Assistant Position with FAIC

FAICFoundation of the American Institute for Conservation, Washington, DC
Vibrant national cultural organization seeks an assistant to support education activities. The successful candidate will be a detailed-oriented team player who can provide logistic and customer support for our program of workshops, symposia, and online courses as well as support for an array of scholarship programs.
The Education Assistant works to advance the goals of the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) by assisting with the presentation, marketing, and evaluation of a diverse array of professional development activities, materials, and scholarships for conservation professionals, allied professions, the general public, and AIC and FAIC staff and volunteers. The Education Assistant reports to the FAIC Development and Education Coordinator.
Responsibilities include:

  • Assist in scheduling workshops and other professional development events
  • Manage logistics for all events, such as arranging for supplies, equipment, catering, hotel arrangements, local coordinator, etc.
  • Develop and disseminate promotional and registration materials for events
  • Manage selection, admission, and records of attendees
  • Prepare and distribute advance information, handouts, name tags, and other materials in support of events
  • Conduct, compile, and report evaluations for each event
  • Prepare event and budget summaries
  • Maintain FAIC web resources in support of professional development
  • Assist in identifying and developing ideas and plans for future professional development activities
  • Track and prepare scholarship and grant applications for review
  • Communicate with grant applicants about award status
  • Track and compile grant and scholarship reports
  • Create and maintain web resources and application materials for grants and scholarships
  • Other duties as assigned

The ideal candidate:

  • Has at least 2 years of experience working with education or similar programs
  • Possesses an undergraduate college degree
  • Exhibits excellent attention to detail
  • Exhibits excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
  • Is proficient in MS Office Suite
  • Is dependable, punctual, and flexible
  • Can work with multiple priorities and deadlines with accuracy
  • Can work with minimal supervision
  • Works well independently and as part of a team
  • Is able to travel to AIC Annual meeting

To apply, send resume and cover letter as an email attachment to: courses@conservation-us.org

Heritage Preservation Programs Transition to FAIC

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Washington, DC — April 27, 2015 — Throughout its 33-year history, first as the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property and then under its current name, Heritage Preservation has fulfilled its mission to preserve the nation’s heritage for future generations through innovative leadership and educational agendas. It has steadily advocated for the protection of cultural heritage by creating programs, publications, and easily accessed products that advance the field of conservation and serve the needs of allied preservation professions.
Heritage Preservation’s programs have been tested and proven. Hence, they are trusted and highly valued. Their loss would be severely felt throughout the cultural heritage community. Research undertaken over the past six months indicates that several synergies exist between the programs of the DC-based Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) and Heritage Preservation. For this reason, following the recent vote by Heritage Preservation members approving its dissolution as of June 30, 2015, several popular Heritage Preservation programs will transition to FAIC, thus ensuring their continuation.
Programs That Will Move to FAIC
FAIC will administer and lead three primary emergency planning, preparedness, and response programs currently offered by Heritage Preservation: Alliance for Response (AFR), State Heritage Emergency Partnership (SHEP), and Risk Evaluation and Planning Program (REPP). FAIC will also promote the annual MayDay campaign in 2015 and into the future. Heritage Preservation’s plan to develop an app called the Disaster Assessment Reporting Tool (DART) is on hold until funding is obtained to develop a prototype.
Transfer of the Connecting to Collections (C2C) Online Community program, and other activities related to the statewide preservation planning and implementation program developed and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), with programmatic assistance from Heritage Preservation, began in December 2014, and has been fully implemented as C2C Care.
FAIC is in the process of hiring additional programmatic and support staff, as well as part-time contractors, to ensure that former Heritage Preservation activities will thrive. Four key Heritage Preservation staff members will be retained, allowing uninterrupted access to their expertise.
Heritage Preservation’s joint award with the College Art Association was presented in February 2015 in New York City. The College Art Association and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) have agreed to form a partnership in time for the 2016 award. It is hoped that a new organizational arrangement for the joint Heritage Preservation/AIC Ross Merrill Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections can be announced prior to the 2016 award cycle.
Although FAIC will not directly oversee Heritage Preservation’s Save Outdoor Sculpture! and Rescue Public Murals programs, existing digital materials from these and other initiatives will be hosted on FAIC’s Conservation OnLine (CoOL) website to ensure continued access.
The Smithsonian Institution Archives, the Campbell Center, the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, the Washington Conservation Guild, the University of Maryland Archives, Conservation Resources Management, and the George Washington University Libraries graciously agreed to accept library and archival materials so that they may continue to be put to good use.
After April 30, 2015, the Heritage Preservation Board of Directors will:

  • donate the intellectual property rights for the name and logo of Heritage Preservation to FAIC;
  • transfer copyrights and inventory of all Heritage Preservation publications and products to FAIC so that these important resources can continue to be distributed;
  • work with FAIC to arrange for mail, product sales, and the website URLs to be redirected to FAIC;
  • and allocate all unencumbered monies and transfer unspent funds, as appropriate, to FAIC when the closure of Heritage Preservation is completed.

Other Key Heritage Preservation Programs
The completion and successful delivery of Heritage Health Information 2014, funded by an IMLS grant award with additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Getty Foundation, and others, will continue to be Heritage Preservation’s principal activity for the first half of 2015, with results tabulated and disseminated to the cultural heritage community by summer 2015.
The IMLS Conservation Assessment Program (CAP), managed by Heritage Preservation, will close on April 30, 2015. Further information about this program can be found at www.imls.gov.
Plans are underway to place the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, of which FAIC is an active member, under the jurisdiction of a federal agency.
Additional Information
Questions or comments regarding the status of Heritage Preservation programs may be directed to Tom Clareson, Acting President, Heritage Preservation (tclareson@heritagepreservation.org), or Eryl Wentworth, Executive Director, Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (ewentworth@conservation-us.org).
 
To download the announcement, please go to http://www.conservation-us.org/about-us/press-room/hp-release

Statement of ISIS Destruction of Cultural Heritage from AIC Board President, Pamela Hatchfield

It is with great horror and sadness that we learn about the continuing destruction of mosques, shrines, churches, temples, historic sites, and cultural treasures in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. This senseless destruction is fueled by the misguided notion that we are not bound by a common humanity, empathy, and intelligence. These heinous acts cause us to consider the critical importance of cultural heritage – it is our shared history, and the act of destroying it is an attempt to destroy the identities of not only the cultures and religions it represents, but also the rich diversity of the evolution of humankind. Even worse, the treasures not destroyed are being sold to finance the continuing efforts of ISIS. The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage at Nimrud, Mosul, Hatra, and elsewhere is considered cultural genocide. The current obliteration of heritage in Iraq has been described by UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova as a war crime which cannot be tolerated. We call to action all the nations of the world who ratified the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Event of Armed Conflict.
What can we do? Contact your senators and members of congress and ask them to support the Hague Convention.
– Pam Hatchfield, AIC President

Changes Afoot: Connecting to Collections Becoming Connecting to Collections Care

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JOIN US, Thursday,  January 29, 1 – 2:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time

As of January 1, the management of the Connecting to Collections online community passed from Heritage Preservation to the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC). The features that you, the collections community, have enjoyed over the years – online forums, links to vital resources, and a free series of webinars – will continue. FAIC welcomes your thoughts on how Connecting to Collections can continue to serve your needs in the coming years.
This highly interactive, free webinar will introduce you to some changes that will be coming, give you the opportunity to meet us, and will offer you the opportunity to provide guidance on what webinar topics might be of most use, how the forums can be even more responsive to your needs, and what additional resources you might like to see.
Why Participate?
This is your first opportunity to meet the new team and to let us know what you have liked and found especially valuable about Connecting to Collections and to let us know how you would like to see this program grow. We welcome your feedback and want your ideas on how best to serve this community in the future.
Presenters include:
Eryl Wentworth, FAIC and AIC Executive Director
Eric Pourchot, FAIC Institutional Advancement Director
M. Susan Barger, FAIC C2C Coordinator
To register, please go to:
http://www.connectingtocollections.org/changes-afoot-connecting-to-collections-becoming-connecting-to-collections-care/

Peek into the past: AIC/MFA Boston's Pam Hatchfield Opens Revere's Time Capsule

Pam Hatchfield appears on WGBH Greater Boston to discuss opening the time capsule.
Pam Hatchfield appears on WGBH Greater Boston to discuss opening the time capsule.

Conservator Pam Hatchfield, head of objects conservation at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and AIC’s board president, had the rare opportunity to excavate and open the oldest known time capsule in the U.S. The capsule was stored in the Massachusetts State House, wedged tight inside a cornerstone, and Hatchfield spent 7 hours carefully removing it. On January 6th, Hatchfield opened the box and removed its contents using a variety of tools, including a porcupine quill.
Hatchfield appeared on a local news show, Greater Boston on WGBH News, to discuss the time capsule and her process, accompanied by Michael Comeau, the executive director of the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum. They talked with WGBH News Arts Editor Jared Bowen. You can watch the video of the interview here.

November issue of AIC News now available

Members, read the November AIC News now!
Members, read the November AIC News now!

We’ve just published the November issue of AIC News. It includes great articles on ethics and conservation (see also our book on the same topic, Ethics and Critical Thinking in Conservation), as well as job, fellowship, and internship announcements; specialty group and network updates; and information about the Connecting to Collections community.
Log into the AIC website and click on AIC News’s Current Issue to view the articles. Members, thank you so much for being a part of this great organization! I love learning about what you do (and how you should keep safe on the job) in every issue.
All members should have received an email announcement, so please let me know if you didn’t see it in your inbox!
–Bonnie