1. Introduction

Huronia Museum is responsible for the long-term care and preservation of its extensive collections. The Museum has developed a policy that will assist in the long-term stewardship of the Museum’s collections. From time to time, the Museum employs professional conservators to carry out treatments deemed to be in the long-term interests of the collection.

2. Conservation Process

Handling and conservation processes are outlined below to provide a guide for the long-term conservation needs of the collection.

Huronia Museum will provide collections storage that is secured and locked from the publicly accessible collections on exhibit. All exhibited material will be exhibited behind glass exhibit cases or on walls with low light levels, controlled air conditioning and temperature and regular cleaning and insect inspections to prevent damage to the collections.
Preventative care pertains to the handling, storage and practices of ensuring the collection is cared for without direct treatment to the object. Conservation treatment involves the assessment of artifacts to upgrade or repair their condition, which changes the object altering its state for the future – hopefully in a positive way.
Huronia Museum carries out conservation activities only when necessary to stabilize and care for objects deemed by the Board to require conservation treatment or recommended for treatment by a professional conservator.
Treatment of objects requiring a conservator would include an extensive list or a needs assessment and will be costed competitively between at least two professional conservators to evaluate treatments and costs for the stabilization and care of conserved items.

Huronia Museum inspects and monitors the roof, building and storm events to ensure that the collection is protects from water damage, insect infestation, theft and vandalism. Roof drains are regularly cleaned of leaves and tree debris to ensure the roof provides adequate protection to the entire building. A Disaster Plan has been “on the books” for several years but will be review and updated as required. Our building security and additional lighting systems to evacuate the building during power outages works very well.
Maintenance activities include the Monday through Friday daily cleaning of all floors, walkways, washrooms and garbage removal by a custodial staff that comes in after the museum closes at 5:00 p.m. The curatorial staff and admissions staff clean cases, dust inside exhibits and generally clean on a daily basis. Any pest problems like moths, ants or other potential infestations are reported to the director and immediate steps are taken to the control insect problems.
Staff is provided with an annual review of procedures with respect to conservation, artifact handling and cleaning schedules in order to ensure a problem-free environment for the Museum’s collections.
Many incoming acquisitions are held in another area of the Museum before being brought into the collections storage and workshop areas for processing. This ensures that incoming “problems” – primarily moths – are better controlled within the Museum’s environment. It also provides time for staff to assess the condition of incoming collections and provide for special problems with clothing, furniture and photographic objects to name just a few.
Huronia Museum is committed to the long-term care of collections and through good housekeeping and conservation procedures the staff, volunteers and Board will fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities to the public in preserving the artifact collections of Huronia Museum for future generations.

Signed______________________________on_________________________________.

Chairman Date