GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

SPECIMEN PRESERVATION
PREAMBLE
In this Part we discuss the ways in which specimens are kept safely, once
collected, and enhanced by preparation. It includes sections on the preservation
of field material in temporary storage (Cl), and on the complex subject of
conservation (C2) including the processing of fossils and minerals (C2.2). This
however is a vast topic, mostly beyond the scope of these Guidelines, and the
tasks should not be undertaken by the unaware, the untrained or the unskilled.
Publications exist which provide much information, for example Kummel & Raup
(1965) or Rixon (1976), while the bibliography 'Geology in Museums' compiled
by T. Sharpe (1983), provides lists of authors and subjects.
The physical, permanent storage of specimens (C3) is vital to curation and
these paragraphs should be read in conjunction with those on environmental
control (C2.4). Also within this Part some suggestions are made on the ways in
which specimens might be arranged in museum collections (C3.5), on collection
security (C3.6) and on the storage and preservation of archives (C3.8).
THE PRESERVATION OF FIELD MATERIAL IN
TEMPORARY STORAGE
Field-collected material in temporary store must be in weather- and pest-proof
conditions. This minimum protection should prevent loss of or damage to
specimens, field labelling, packaging materials and bags etc., through damp,
fungus, insect or rodent activity. It may be advisable to incorporate a wide
spectrum fungicide in collecting bags (if plastic) and plaster or polyurethane foam
jacketed material during field packing to prevent fungal (including mould)
growths, which might otherwise destroy specimens and associated field labels.
Every effort should be made to reduce the length of time material remains in
poorly protected conditions.
Field collections containing unstable minerals or fossils, e.g. pyritic material,
shales, clays, sub-fossil bone and hydrated or moisture-sensitive minerals (see
C2.2.2.1) should be processed as soon as possible after excavation. Damp pyritic
material, exposed to the air will, even over very short periods of time,
decompose. Slow drying (over even a few weeks) of sub-fossil bone or enamel,
some shales or clays and hydrated minerals may cause serious deterioration or
loss. The uncontrolled drying out of hydrated materials can be prevented by
artificially maintaining a high relative humidity (rh) environment around packages
by double-bagging in polythene.
SPECIMEN CONSERVATION
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Geological material in the safekeeping of a museum is prone to decay.
Conservation can be defined as embracing those measures which are designed to
arrest or retard the deterioration of specimens by means of environmental