Project Objectives
The aim of this project is the development of didactic case studies, based on real museum situations, illustrating the range of issues that must be taken into account when developing preventive conservation and management strategies for museum collections, buildings, and sites.

Project Overview
The GCI's Education and Science departments are collaborating to produce case studies that can be used in teaching preventive conservation and management of museum collections, historic house museums, and other cultural sites. The cases studies will be designed for use in academic programs in conservation, museum studies, and architecture, as well as in engineering programs dealing with indoor climate control.

Preventive Conservation Case Studies will contextualize the environmental research that has emerged from the GCI's laboratories and fieldwork. The case studies will also reference the research and practical work undertaken by other organizations, allowing different experiences and approaches to be considered within the framework of each case. The cases, which will be based on actual museum situations, will present users with various scenarios for decision making and for balancing the requirements of the collection and the building, as well as the mission, values, and operations of the museum. They will provide a unique opportunity for students to explore the complexity of weighing options and making decisions, while exposing them to other professionals and their expertise. In this way, the case studies can contribute to greater interdisciplinarity among the diverse professionals responsible for the care and management of museum buildings, collections, and sites.

The case studies will serve as a didactic resource that can be used by the GCI in its own education projects, as well as by other educators in programs teaching conservation, architecture, museum studies, and related subjects. Each case will be peer-reviewed and tested in appropriate academic programs, and the experience of the test-users will be incorporated into the case study and accompanying teaching note.

The case study currently underway will address preventive conservation in the context of a historic house museum (Component One).

Last updated: March 2009