[NHCOLL-L:4298] Learn about humidity control in Preservation Environments online class in May

[Helen Alten]

Starting May 4  there is an opportunity to 
discuss relative humidity and temperature and how they affect your museum:

MS 211: Preservation Environments
May 4 to May 29, 2009
Price: $425
Instructor: Ernest A. Conrad
Location: online at www.museumclasses.org

Description:
The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling. 
The powder coated metal storage shelves have 
active rust under the foam padding. Objects in 
fur storage are covered in mold. It is raining in 
the exhibit hall. This is the damage that occurs 
to museum buildings or collection when staff do 
not understand preservation environments. 
Preservation Environments is essential knowledge 
for any collecting institution. Everyone should 
understand how humidity and temperature are 
controlled by a building and its mechanical 
system. For museum staff considering a new 
building - and any institution planning to expand 
or rebuild an existing one - Preservation 
Environments provide important information for 
calculating whether the proposed improvements 
will actually improve the environmental control 
of your protective enclosure. Participants learn 
the advantages and disadvantages of numerous 
methods of temperature and humidity control. 
Preservation Environments does not try to turn 
museum professionals into engineers. Rather, it 
arms them with the knowledge they need to work 
with engineers and maintenance professionals. And 
helps explain why damaged occurred and how to keep it from happening again.

Course Outline:
1 Introduction
2 Climate Control Basics
3 Monitoring and Psychrometrics
4 Water - The Enemy
5 Preservation Today and Tomorrow
6 Conclusion


Logistics: Participants in Preservation 
Environments work at their own pace through six 
sections and interact through online chats. 
Instructor Ernest Conrad is available at 
scheduled times for email support. Preservation 
Environments includes online literature, slide 
lectures and student-teacher/group-teacher 
dialog. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Preservation Environments runs four weeks. To 
reserve a spot in the course, please pay at 
<http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html>http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html 
If you have trouble please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

Student Comments for MS211: Preservation Environments:
Mr. Conrad did a superb job
the information from 
the course has helped me professionally, 
especially in describing the impact of relative 
humidity on objects and artifacts and paper.

I thought the lectures along with the powerpoint slides were great.

This course helped me to understand quite a bit 
more as far as the psychometric and maximum room 
RH without condensation charts. I already had a 
psychometric chart but made little use of it, 
since no one had explained how to use it. I also 
was very interested to hear of digital monitoring 
systems. This course exceeded my expectations.

The instructor was very knowledgeable, 
approachable (with probably rather silly 
questions) and gave straight forward answers to inquiries.


The Instructor:
Ernest A. Conrad's greatest contribution to the 
preservation field was the development of 
environmental guidelines for engineers who work 
on museums, libraries and archives. For over 20 
years, Mr. Conrad has focused on environmental 
issues. He is president of Landmark Facilities 
Group, Inc., an engineering firm specializing in 
environmental systems for museums, libraries, 
archives and historic facilities. A licensed 
mechanical engineer in several states, Mr. Conrad 
holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering 
and a master's in environmental engineering from 
Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating 
and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) 
publishes standards in the areas of HVAC and 
refrigeration. Mr. Conrad recently co-authored 
the ASHRAE Applications Handbook "Chapter 20: 
Museums, Libraries and Archives." For the first 
time, there are guidelines specific to our needs 
in the engineering literature. Mr. Conrad has 
studied environments and designed special climate 
control systems throughout the United States for 
clients as well-known as the National Gallery of 
Art, Library of Congress, The Frick Collection, 
Getty Conservation Institute, The Pierpont Morgan 
Library, National Trust for Historic 
Preservation, and National Park Service. He has a 
special interest in house museums and how climate 
affects structures and collections housed within those structures.
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