Open Forum

Hi all, 

I am in the process of evaluating my museum's collections storage spaces, and like so many, they are imperfect. Unlike many of you however, our humidity levels are actually way too low. I am wondering if anyone has any experience humidifying a discreet space. And direction at all would be very welcome. 
Thank you!

Zoe Quinn

Collections Manager

Armenian Museum of America

65 Main Street

Watertown, MA 02472

------------------------------
Zoe Quinn
Collections Manager
Armenian Museum of America
Watertown MA
------------------------------

Hi Zoe:

We have similar issues as you do during the winter months. One passive method to improve the situation might be to box or otherwise contain items that are particularly sensitive to low humidity.  We've done all sorts of experiments here, putting dataloggers inside cases, cabinets, boxes, under cloth covers, etc, to compare them with raw environmental readings from the open air environment.  So I've attached a couple PDFs.

The first set of charts (called combined) were taken from an exhibit space in the corridor of the museum and from inside an enclosed wall case.  You can see that the microenvironment of the case somewhat moderates what's happening outside.  Part of that is because it's a much smaller space that is rarely disturbed, so the air inside is very stable.  The artifacts that are in there (mostly wood) help balance it out as well. Our current standards say that relative humidity needs to fall into a range 30-50% and you can see the case slips slightly below that for a day near the end of February, but it's much better than the low in the corridor, which is 14%.

For bigger items you could even cover them with a sheet of Tyvek or cotton muslin, or cover the front of a shelf with those materials.  We did an experiment in December where we covered the front of a shelf with Tyvek, put a datalogger inside, and had a datalogger right outside the shelf.  I also attached those charts (called shelf combined) and you can see the effect isn't as dramatic, but it does moderate the range somewhat.  There were no artifacts inside the enclosed area and certain materials would make the environmentals more stable.

Best of luck finding a solution that works well for you!

------------------------------
Geoffrey Woodcox
Assistant Curator of Collections
State Historical Society of North Dakota
Bismarck ND
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-06-2018 04:46 PM
From: Zoe Quinn
Subject: Increasing humidity

Hi all,

I am in the process of evaluating my museum's collections storage spaces, and like so many, they are imperfect. Unlike many of you however, our humidity levels are actually way too low. I am wondering if anyone has any experience humidifying a discreet space. And direction at all would be very welcome.
Thank you!

Zoe Quinn

Collections Manager

Armenian Museum of America

65 Main Street

Watertown, MA 02472

------------------------------
Zoe Quinn
Collections Manager
Armenian Museum of America
Watertown MA
------------------------------

Good Morning all,

I did a study at my former institution on microclimates.  Basically what I found out was that with sufficient bagging, boxing, and placement in cabinets, any sensitive artifact will not even feel a climate change.  My example was a 30 degree temperature drop outside resulting in a  shift in building temperature, a change in the cabinet temperature, even less change in the box, and a very slight blip for the artifact bag.  so I am agreeing with Geoffrey that a little bit of barrier can lessen any impacts.     And what should be remember is that wild fluctuations are detrimental not slow shifts in either temperature or humidity. 

Marybeth

 

Marybeth S. F. Tomka, M.A., PS Cert CM
Head of Collections
TARL       
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station R7500
Austin, Texas 78712
512-475-6853 direct line
512-232-6563 fax
512-471-5960 TARL main phone

www.utexas.edu/cola/tarl/
www.texasbeyondhistory.net

State Certified Repository

 

------------------------------
Marybeth Tomka
Curator
Texas Archeological Research Lab - University of Texas, Austin
San Antonio TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2018 09:42 AM
From: Geoffrey Woodcox
Subject: Increasing humidity

Hi Zoe:

We have similar issues as you do during the winter months. One passive method to improve the situation might be to box or otherwise contain items that are particularly sensitive to low humidity.  We've done all sorts of experiments here, putting dataloggers inside cases, cabinets, boxes, under cloth covers, etc, to compare them with raw environmental readings from the open air environment.  So I've attached a couple PDFs.

The first set of charts (called combined) were taken from an exhibit space in the corridor of the museum and from inside an enclosed wall case.  You can see that the microenvironment of the case somewhat moderates what's happening outside.  Part of that is because it's a much smaller space that is rarely disturbed, so the air inside is very stable.  The artifacts that are in there (mostly wood) help balance it out as well. Our current standards say that relative humidity needs to fall into a range 30-50% and you can see the case slips slightly below that for a day near the end of February, but it's much better than the low in the corridor, which is 14%.

For bigger items you could even cover them with a sheet of Tyvek or cotton muslin, or cover the front of a shelf with those materials.  We did an experiment in December where we covered the front of a shelf with Tyvek, put a datalogger inside, and had a datalogger right outside the shelf.  I also attached those charts (called shelf combined) and you can see the effect isn't as dramatic, but it does moderate the range somewhat.  There were no artifacts inside the enclosed area and certain materials would make the environmentals more stable.

Best of luck finding a solution that works well for you!

------------------------------
Geoffrey Woodcox
Assistant Curator of Collections
State Historical Society of North Dakota
Bismarck ND

Original Message:
Sent: 03-06-2018 04:46 PM
From: Zoe Quinn
Subject: Increasing humidity

Hi all,

I am in the process of evaluating my museum's collections storage spaces, and like so many, they are imperfect. Unlike many of you however, our humidity levels are actually way too low. I am wondering if anyone has any experience humidifying a discreet space. And direction at all would be very welcome.
Thank you!

Zoe Quinn

Collections Manager

Armenian Museum of America

65 Main Street

Watertown, MA 02472

------------------------------
Zoe Quinn
Collections Manager
Armenian Museum of America
Watertown MA
------------------------------