Cost-Efficient and Environmentally Responsible Preservation Methods for Preparing Paper-Based Objects for Transit and Display

This three-year research project will explore the most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible methods of preparing paper-based collection objects for transit and display while also maintaining preservation standards. The project will include both field and laboratory research. The project team will collect environmental data from multiple museums’ shipping crates simultaneously. Laboratory experimentation will include testing the safety and relative humidity buffering capacity of crate packing materials and methods, and varied microenvironment-sealed frame package designs used to protect objects during transit and display. Guidelines from this project will be useful to all museums with exhibition and loan programs and have the potential to reduce the cost and material waste associated with thousands of museum objects prepared annually for transit and display.