An introduction to the Conservation Collection, over 55,000 titles on topics related to the science of preserving cultural heritage materials.

Created 2006, updated 2019.
Author: Cameron Trowbridge

The Conservation Collection is housed in the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute. It represents an ongoing collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Research Institute.

Within its general focus on the management, conservation, and protection of cultural property, the 7 main areas of the Conservation Collection are:

The holdings of the Conservation Collection may be consulted at the Getty Center or borrowed through your Library's Interlibrary Loan Department.

Begin searching the Conservation Collection by navigating to the Library Catalog.

Once inside the Catalog, click on "Advanced Search" and enter your topic "contains" and "conservation collection" "is (exact)", as seen here:

For more information about how to search, please consult the Guide to Searching the Conservation Collection (PDF, 193KB).

The Conservation Collection, with its emphasis on conservation, management, and protection of cultural property, both movable (held by museums or libraries) and immovable (architecture, cultural heritage sites), complements the general and special collections of the Research Library that focus on the history of the visual arts, architecture, archaeology, and the humanities. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of conservation, the Conservation Collection includes research resources ranging from the pure and applied sciences, such as chemistry and materials science, to humanities-based disciplines, such as history and archaeology.

To read more about the nature of the Conservation Collection, consult the Collection Development Policy for the Conservation Collection (PDF, 215KB, updated 2019).

For reference assistance in the use of the Conservation Collection, to recommend a specific title or to make a donation to the Conservation Collection, contact the GCI Information Center.