Preventive Conservation and Collections Care

The Getty Conservation Institute has a long history of research into preventive conservation and collections care—determining which environmental factors cause deterioration to heritage artifacts in all types of collections and the processes by which this can occur. The environmental factors that typically cause deterioration include light, airborne pollutants, temperature, humidity, shocks, and vibrations. The goal of preventive conservation is to identify environmental improvements that can mitigate, and in some cases prevent, future damage.

The Institute has offered training courses in this area since 1990, giving conservators, collection managers, and conservation educators an opportunity to update their skills and knowledge, while also considering the managerial and political skills necessary to integrate better collection practices within cultural institutions.

More recently, we have developed a series of courses and workshops for practicing professionals to help them deal with new challenges in determining appropriate collection environments. This has become increasingly important to the field as professionals encounter pressure to relax environmental specifications in museums and collections.