[Nhcoll-l] How to display herbarium specimens without color fading

[Hawkins, Rebecca Keanni]

Hello everyone,

Is there a way to display herbarium specimens without color fading? As I understand it, exposing an herbarium specimen to sunlight (and maybe even artificial light?) will cause the specimen's colors to fade to various shades of brown. This question isn't for any specific project or exhibition, just something I've been curious about ever since I helped an herbarium make a small university display and its specimens turned brown after a few months of summer sun.

I did try an informal experiment where I put an herbarium specimen in a glass picture frame with UV blocking window film. However, the specimen's color faded just as fast as a control specimen without the film. This suggests that there was fault with the film itself or my application of it, or even that UV light alone is not what is causing the color of herbarium specimens to fade.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Rebecca Hawkins (she/her)
M.A. Student in Museum Studies
University of Kansas
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