The Gupapuyngu Community Come to Victoria
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National Newsletter Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (Inc.) ISSN 1834-0598 No 123 November 2012 The Gupapuyngu Contents community come 2 Anoxic Pest Control Treatment – Do we need a national standard? to Victoria 4 Special Interest Group News 5 What’s in the Workshop? 7 2012 IIC Vienna Congress 9 Japanese Paper Conservation Workshop 10 Developing Partnership Conservation Projects with the Dax Centre 12 Consulting with Gupapuyngu community 13 Hello from Lynn Campbell Institutional News 14 NSW 18 ACT 19 SA 20 Tas and Vic 22 Qld 23 Trawling the Internet The Museum Workshop Traversing Antarctica at The El Alamein fountain exhibition at the NMA the NAA restored Anoxic Pest Control Treatment – Do we need a national standard? Anoxic Pest Control Treatment – Do we need a national standard? Anoxic insect pest treatments have Treatment Parameters The Museum’s Nitrogen been in use in Australia for over 20 In December the Museum received a Chamber years now, but it is only in recent request from AQIS to treat an imported The Australian Museum commissioned years that the Australian Quarantine object at 25°C for three weeks below its first nitrogen chamber in 1999 and Inspection Service (AQIS) have 0.3% oxygen. The length of time and it has been in use with periodic begun to recognise this approach as a treatment takes can be critical for modifications ever since. I will outline an alternative treatment for artefacts/ exhibition deadlines. For this reason the functioning of our chamber for art works (in some cases). Currently the Museum prefers to treat at 30°C for comparison with other units and for the there is no agreed set of parameters for two weeks. After fitting a new heater to benefit of those considering installing a low oxygen treatments that are applied our chamber last year, it now maintains system. nationally within the conservation a steady 30°C. This is considered community. Reading the literature the safest maximum temperature for Our experiences have taught us that from around the world, the parameters most materials. As the speed of insect keeping the system as simple as possible recommended can vary wildly. Most low mortality increases with temperature, saves time and increases reliability. oxygen treatments are based on insect running the chamber at 30°C allows Essentially we have a large stainless mortality research by Gilberg (1991), the Museum to maintain a two-week steel box. It is bolted together and has Rust (1993), Makaewa (1996), Valentin treatment, which may satisfy the a thick layer of gasket compound. It has (1993) and others from the late 1980s requirements of AQIS but would require a very heavy steel door with carefully and early 90s which indicates that the their approval. engineered hinges, which closes using length of time required to ensure 100% 16 threaded clamps that can be adjusted mortality varies with temperature and With AQIS now showing more interest to evenly compress the rubber door seal. relative humidity. Higher temperatures in anoxic treatments, it would be Originally the chamber was flushed with result in the insects dying more rapidly. timely to hold a discussion within nitrogen from a bank of 4 cylinders of Some studies used 0.1% oxygen as the the conservation and pest control compressed gas with an auto change- parameter for treatment, whereas other community in Australia to reach a over mechanism as each one emptied. studies were carried out at <0.3%. consensus on the treatment parameters, This was replaced 4 years ago with a Getting down to 0.3% oxygen is more in order to satisfy AQIS that that there nitrogen generating unit which has easily achievable than 0.1% and was is an agreed industry standard. To eliminated the need to handle large gas adopted by the Australian Museum as this end, I aim to organise a meeting bottles. The generator extracts nitrogen the target. in February 2013 to review anoxic treatment methods. from compressed air and fills a reservoir tank which is then fed into the chamber through a variable flow meter. The nitrogen generator has been remarkably reliable and requires little maintenance. The chamber is initially flushed for about 36-48 hours at a higher flow rate until the oxygen level in the chamber is lower than 0.3%. It is extremely difficult to build a perfectly sealed chamber so a low flow rate is maintained throughout the process to ensure positive pressure in the chamber and prevent air ingress. The <0.3% atmosphere is maintained for 14 days. The whole setup is designed to run the same way as a simple bag-flushing set-up and is extremely reliable. The relative The nitrogen chamber front view – the handy storage space on top of the humidity is maintained at 50% by chamber improves insulation and energy efficiency. (Photo – Australian Museum) bubbling the nitrogen through a water 2 AICCM National Newsletter Anoxic Pest Control Treatment – Do we need a national standard? chamber. A humidistat in the chamber on site. A complete log of the treatment Bibliography controls a solenoid which allows the gas parameters will be used when necessary Gilberg, M. 1991. The effects of low to bypass the water chamber if the RH to satisfy AQIS that conditions have oxygen atmospheres on museum pests. rises too high. The only maintenance been met. Studies in Conservation 36(2). 93–98. required during the run is topping up The original design of the chamber the water in the humidifying chamber Maekawa, S & Elert, K. 1996. Large- incorporated a timed vacuum cycle every couple of days. There is also a scale infestation of museum objects to flush the atmosphere and refill solenoid on the exhaust pipe which using nitrogen anoxia. ICOM Committee with more nitrogen. This feature was closes if a power outage occurs, to for Conservation 11thTriennial Conference disconnected when it was realised prevent backflow into the chamber. Preprints Vol 1. that the 0.3% oxygen target could The heating is supplied by a small be achieved as quickly and with the Rust, MK and JM Kennedy. 1993. The oil-filled heater inside the chamber. same amount of gas by simply flushing feasibility of using modified atmospheres Convection seems to spread the heat the nitrogen through the chamber for to control insect pests in museums. GCI evenly and a thermostat ensures a steady two days at a moderate rate. This has Scientific Program Report. Marina del 30°C. contributed to the chambers reliability Rey, California: Getty Conservation for more than ten years. For those Institute. A Teledyne oxygen meter is connected considering investing in an anoxic to the exhaust system and daily readings Valentin, N. 1993. Comparative analysis chamber, we recommend simplicity taken to ensure that the oxygen of insect control by nitrogen, argon, as the key to reliability and low content has not risen. The purchase and carbon dioxide in museum, archive maintenance. of a Hanwell Zero2 system this year and herbarium collections. International allows the logging of the temperature If you are currently using anoxic Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 32 (4). and humidity, and whether the oxygen treatments and are interested in 263–278. level is below 0.3%. It transmits the comparing notes about treatment data from inside the chamber back to parameters or equipment, contact Colin Macgregor a radio receiver. This allows remote [email protected]. Manager, Materials Conservation Australian Museum monitoring of the chamber if noone is No 123 November 2012 3 Special Interest Group News Special Interest Group News Book and Paper Special Thank you also to all the people who The venue for the next Symposium Interest Group submitted and presented papers and was also discussed and the Art Gallery posters and to everyone who attended of New South Wales will hold the The 7th Book, Paper and Photographic the Symposium. Your participation next Symposium in 2014. A new Book Materials Group Symposium was held throughout the three days made it the and Paper Group Convenor was also at the State Library of Queensland dynamic, information sharing event that elected, congratulations to Carolyn (SLQ) from 29–31 August 2012. It was we hoped it would be. The assistance of Murphy, Acting Head of Conservation attended by 68 delegates from Australia some attendees and students throughout at the Art Gallery of NSW. Please and New Zealand. the three days with the registration contact Carolyn if you have any desk, timekeeping and microphones is queries about the next Symposium. Each day of the Symposium focused also much appreciated. email: [email protected] on a different topic: day one looked or phone 02 9225 1845. at Disasters: small or large and what we And finally a huge thanks to the have learnt; day two was Contemporary organising committee: Caroline Kim Barrett, Outgoing Book and Paper works: conservation issues, storage, O’Rorke, Samantha Shellard, Rachel Group Convenor display and transportation; and day Spano and Lydia Egunnike. Everyone’s three concentrated on Digital matters: vision and tireless efforts resulted in a library and gallery perspectives, with great Symposium. an afternoon of lab and gallery tours. There were also short Special Interest Objects Special Interest There were tours of SLQ flood-affected Group meetings held in the early Group areas, the SLQ preservation lab, the evening of 30 August, for Book Queensland Gallery of Modern Art and Paper (BPG), PHOTON and After much planning, two workshops conservation lab and the Queensland Preservation Framing. on Outdoor Sculptures and Monuments Centre of Photography. will be held in November. The first is a The BPG meeting briefly looked two day course focused on management The full program can still be viewed on at the direction members wanted and maintenance of collections; the the AICCM website.