[Nhcoll-l] [EXT] how to clean birds nests ?

Valerie Tomlinson VTomlinson at nature.ca
Wed Sep 14 09:34:36 EDT 2022


Hi Benoit,
My last work place had several projects on dust, although it wasn't a Natural History museum. In one project they dusted everything in the store. It was one of the smaller stores, but it still took over a year to complete. If you dust everything in your collection, plan on a multi-year project, and since it would take so long, perhaps add on some value-added work like upgrading storage mounts or catalogue records.
Another dust incident happened immediately after that project, so from that we came to the conclusion that it wasn't necessary to dust everything in the stores. A lot of the time, most of the damage is already done by the dust and removing it can cause more damage. It is only worth dusting if the dust is actively/rapidly causing degradation (enhancing mould growth or corrosion, causing significant surface scratching, etc.) and/or the item is going on display, or the item is otherwise in use and the dust will interfere with that use. If the item is just sitting in storage with no plans for use in the near future, and the dust is not causing significant continued degradation, then dusting may wait for a request for loan, display, or research.
In such circumstances it is better to focus on preventive measures, such as improved storage to prevent dust accumulation, such as: improved HVAC filtration; storage in closed cupboards; storage in boxes; or the use of dust covers.
A dust monitoring project in the new store may also be something to consider. Dust always happens, so it's good to know how much, what kind, where it builds up, that kind of thing. Then you'll have some idea of how frequently you'll have to think about dusting.

As for your bird nests, because of their fragility, I would take the preventive approach. If it is not scheduled for use in the foreseeable future, then focus on improving the storage and packing. Only dust selected items where the dust is truly interfering with use, and/or is causing continuing damage.

That's my 2 cents.
Valerie Tomlinson

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of MELLIER Benoît
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 8:40 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXT][Nhcoll-l] how to clean birds nests ?

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Dear all,
Here at Angers Nat. Hist. Museum (Western France), we are working on our collections before their complete relocation in a new storage building. Among all the tasks, one important is cleaning the specimens. Most of all are dusty and sometimes dust is easy to remove sometimes it is not, it depends on the kind of the specimens. My question concerns birds nests : did some of you experiment birds nests dust off ? Some restorers tell us to wrap the nest with a net and use a vacuum. I will appreciate your answers and your experience sharing about this.
Thanks,

Benoît MELLIER
Zoologie, Sciences de la Terre et Préhistoire
[3C727D3B]
Direction des musées - Muséum des sciences naturelles<https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9um_des_sciences_naturelles_d%27Angers> // Ville d'Angers
43 rue Jules Guitton - 49100 ANGERS
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