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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I am sorry – I did it again: I hit the reply button, not the reply-to-all button.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>N.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=DE style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Von:</span></b><span lang=DE style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Nadja Pöllath <poellath@snsb.de> <br><b>Gesendet:</b> Mittwoch, 7. September 2022 07:37<br><b>An:</b> 'John E Simmons' <simmons.johne@gmail.com><br><b>Betreff:</b> AW: [Nhcoll-l] Animal bone collection and temperatures<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Hi Valerie and John,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>many thanks for your input and the links.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I meanwhile talked to the curator of the other collection housed in the same building (who didn’t know a thing about these plans). They even have to work in the storage part during wintertime meaning that the temperature should certainly be kept above freezing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>We (our collection manager Carla and I) will collect all data so that we can discuss with the administrators of the building how we can help with saving energy and still have temperatures and humidity at reasonable levels in the collection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Many thanks again for your help.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>John, finally ... yes. This issue called for the collective wisdom of this list.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Nadja<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=DE style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Von:</span></b><span lang=DE style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> John E Simmons <<a href="mailto:simmons.johne@gmail.com">simmons.johne@gmail.com</a>> <br><b>Gesendet:</b> Mittwoch, 7. September 2022 04:29<br><b>An:</b> Nadja Pöllath <<a href="mailto:poellath@snsb.de">poellath@snsb.de</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> NHCOLL-new <<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>><br><b>Betreff:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Animal bone collection and temperatures<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>Nadja,<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>There is a very good, brief section on the preservation of "Bone, Antler, Ivory and Teeth" by Christopher Norris and Robert Waller on pages 852-852 of <i>Preventive Conservation: Collection Storage</i>, edited by Lisa Elkin and Christopher Norris. To summarize what they say, you are correct to be concerned with freezing temperatures and relative humidity due to problems with fracturing, mold growth, chemical aging rates, and migration of oils. Brief excursions of temperature to near freezing are not too harmful except as temperature affects relative humidity. Low relative humidity will cause fracturing of teeth and long bones, and frequent variations in relative humidity may do the same. The recommendations Valerie provided are good. Keep in mind that teeth are far more susceptible to damage from fluctuating relative humidity and low relative humidity than bone.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>In addition, what I suggest is talking to the building engineers or administrators or whoever controls the thermostats and heating equipment about how to go about the energy saving measures and try to convince them that rather than simply prevent the temperature from going below freezing, they need to investigate ways to conserve energy while still maintaining a relatively stable storage environment to minimize humidity excursions. There has been some work on this in various museums in different climates, ranging from simply turning off heat or cooling over the weekend when the collection storage areas are closed (which, in an adequately insulated building, usually keeps the temperature and humidity within a desired range) to establishing a lower temperature (hence less energy use) that still keeps relative humidity within an acceptable range. This latter method is often more energy efficient, depending on the building design and materials, as it is usually more efficient to use a steady temperature of, say, 10 or 12 degrees, than to allow a large space to cool down and then heat it back up (which causes serious changes in relative humidity). Another solution is to use microclimates for very susceptible materials (such as teeth) by placing them in polyethylene boxes with treated silica gel, but that may be prohibitive for a large collection such as yours.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>There are a number of publications available that address these issues. Three that are available for free download include:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Padfield et al. 2013, Low energy museum storage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://www.conservationphysics.org/storage/low-energy-museum-storage.html"><span style='color:#0563C1'>https://www.conservationphysics.org/storage/low-energy-museum-storage.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Maekawa and Garcia Morales 2006-Los-cost climate control system for museum storage facility<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/climate/valle_de_guerra_PLEA_2006.pdf"><span style='color:#0563C1'>https://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/climate/valle_de_guerra_PLEA_2006.pdf</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Kerschner 2008-Providing safe and practical environments for cultural property in historic buildings<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.568.1438&rep=rep1&type=pdf"><span style='color:#0563C1'>https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.568.1438&rep=rep1&type=pdf</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:105%'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>No doubt other people on this list have either had experience with these sorts of strategies or perhaps can recommend other useful publications to address this issue.</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>Glad to see you posting to nhcoll!!</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black'>--John</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>John E. Simmons<br>Writer and Museum Consultant</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Museologica<br><i>and</i><br>Associate Curator of Collections<br>Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>Penn State University<br><i>and</i><br>Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia<br>Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Sat, Sep 3, 2022 at 2:16 PM Nadja Pöllath <<a href="mailto:poellath@snsb.de">poellath@snsb.de</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Dear all,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>this is my first post to nhcoll listserve – so please bear with me, if I am not following the conventions of this list.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>I am a curator at a collection housing archaeological animal bones and modern reference specimens. With the energy crisis, the Bavarian state ordered that the heating system in the collection shall only be working before room temperature drops below 0°C. According to the Preventive Conservation ‘bible’ temperatures in storage rooms generally should not drop below 15°C. I’d like to hear about the guidelines regarding room temperature limits in comparable collections.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>More critical for archaeological and subfossil bones apparently are low RH values. As RH and temperatures are dependent variables, it would be good to know at which RH values damages are induced.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Many thanks,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Nadja<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=DE>(Staatssammlung für Paläoanatomie München, Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=DE> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=DE> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________<br>Nhcoll-l mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu" target="_blank">Nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a><br><a href="https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l" target="_blank">https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l</a><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of<br>Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose<br>mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of<br>natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to<br>society. See <a href="http://www.spnhc.org" target="_blank">http://www.spnhc.org</a> for membership information.<br>Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.<o:p></o:p></p></div></blockquote></div></div></body></html>