The purpose of this RSLP project is to make a major contribution to increased access to research collections by providing a high-quality conservation service for the use of Universities and other HEFC-funded HE institutions in the UK. The Unit was given the specific remit to offer the service against the background of an exit strategy which would enable the it to continue its work on a cost-recovery basis once the three years of funding come to an end.
The Conservation Unit was set up in 1986 to undertake conservation surveys, to carry out remedial conservation to Dundee University collections, and to offer a conservation service for libraries, museums, archives and private individuals throughout Scotland. As part of a University, it also aims to disseminate information on good conservation practice, and to generally promote a better awareness of conservation issues. The provision of specialised training placements for students on formal conservation courses has been part of the service from the outset.
The Unit was funded by SHEFC under the NFF programme to expand into new premises and offer subsidised services to Scottish HEIs during the period 1996/7 to 1998/99. Funding was granted under RSLP to continue the subsidised programme on a reducing scale over three years in total. This is a unique element in the RSLP programme. The Unit is staffed by experienced and accredited conservation graduates and operates in accordance with recognised professional national and international standards in conservation.
The progress of the Unit is monitored by an external panel, consisting of Mr Ian McGowan (Librarian, The National Library of Scotland), Mr John McIntyre OBE (Freelance Conservation Consultant), and Ms Helen Shenton (Deputy Director, Preservation, Collection Management Directorate, The British Library).
The following services are offered as the deliverables of the project:
The final year of the RSLP project has seen an encouraging surge in assignments - a welcome confirmation that the service is needed and appreciated, and that it is a leader in its field. It has strengthened its position as a natural choice for outsourcing work, especially for projects funded by external bodies (such as the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust) and has extended its advisory and training role. Its expertise in dealing with mould-damaged collections has especially come to the fore during the past year.
In brief, the studio has worked on eighteenth century papers detailing disgusting eighteenth-century diseases from Lothian Health Board. Early Russian revolutionary books, pamphlets and glass plate negatives from the important Malinowsky and Melgunov collections have been treated to make them accessible to proletariat comrades and members of “the degenerating ruling classes”(sic) alike. We have cosseted mediaeval seals suffering from various degrees of disintegration, re-balanced early bank ledgers, and acted as mediators between the personalities of the handmade paper, contemporary calligraphy, and modern media with attitude (mostly photography and digital prints) which make up the Great Book of Gaelic, soon to tour the UK.
Further, we have calmed a huge collection of stubbornly springy Mediaeval parchment rolls and treated a giant pastel portrait with a skin complaint. We have worked on a recently authenticated Napoleonic Archive (including samples of the emperor’s own handwriting), early original Walt Disney Cartoons, paper fire-screens, pastels and watercolours by Thomas Millie Dow of “Glasgow Boys” fame, and a parchment Grant of Earldom by Charles II. The intricate treatment was completed of one part of the longest work of non-fiction ever written - the sixteenth-century manuscript encyclopaedia yongle dadian, and the Pitsligo Papers with their stirring Jacobite verse are now robust enough for direct access. We have also been lurking in the boudoir of Newhailes House, consolidating the eighteenth-century Chinese wallpaper.
As usual, the Unit has treated a large selection of maps, Bibles and photographs and also several herbaria. The cleaning of large quantities of mould-infested material has been a memorable feature of this year.
In addition, we have carried out conservation surveys using different models ( including the NPO Preservation Needs Assessment and our own DUST survey tool ), given presentations, and run courses in various subjects; a “Disaster Response Training Day” for conservators in Scotland and another for the University Senior Management, one on Collections Care, and one on “Mould on Paper Materials”. A three-day photographic conservation course is planned for July 2002, in collaboration with photographic conservator Susie Clark and International Academic Projects. We also hosted an intern from the Czech State Archives in Prague for a year, funded by Historic Scotland as part of the Scottish Graduate Conservation Internship Programme, followed by a six-month placement for a conservation student from the Instituut Collectie Nederlands in Amsterdam.
Members of the studio have contributed to the development of the profession and to standards in Heritage preservation by carrying out professional accreditation assessments for the PACR scheme, serving on the Preservation Administrators Panel (PAP) of the National Preservation Office; the Collections Management and Development Working Group of Re:source; and on Shared Preservation in Scotland (SPIS) convened by SCURL. They have worked on a Scottish level with The Scottish Society for Conservation and Restoration (SSCR), on a UK level with The National Council for Conservation and Restoration (NCCR), and on a European level at the European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers’ Organisations (ECCO), particularly with its recently published report APEL; a project funded by the European Commission DGX which sets out to define the legal responsibilities of the various parties involved in the preservation of Cultural Heritage.
Project Manager
Ms Ylva Player-Dahnsjö MA, AKC, HND, ACR MIPCTel: 01382 34 4094
Fax: 01382 345614
E-mail: conservation@dundee.ac.uk
www.dundee.ac.uk/library/conservation/
Content: Gill Davenport
Last updated 9 June 2004