[NHCOLL-L:5385] Preservation Environments online class starts Monday

[Helen Alten]

There is still room in Northern States Conservation Center's unique 
online course covering museum, library and archives environments that 
starts next Monday:
*
MS211: Preservation Environments*
Instructor: Ernest A. Conrad
Price: $475
Dates: May 2 to May 27, 2011
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 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 new 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. For more information 
visit his web site Landmark Facilities Group, Inc. <http://www.lfginc.com/>

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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