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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 4415845, member: 8267&quot;]One of the features of conservation becoming a professional/academic/scientific practice is the fact that experiments, treatments and results <u>are</u> published in peer-reviewed journals rather than being held as trade secrets. This has been true since the 1950s. </p><p><br /></p><p>Several relevant journals have now made their older issues available online for free, some through JSTOR, or Taylor &amp; Francis, with a subscription required for more recent issues. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.culturalheritage.org/publications/journal-(jaic)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.culturalheritage.org/publications/journal-(jaic)" rel="nofollow">https://www.culturalheritage.org/publications/journal-(jaic)</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.iiconservation.org/publications/sic" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.iiconservation.org/publications/sic" rel="nofollow">https://www.iiconservation.org/publications/sic</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cac-accr.ca/publications/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cac-accr.ca/publications/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cac-accr.ca/publications/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For years, organizations such as the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), and the Smithsonian have published leaflets on basic care of a variety of types of historic objects.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The problem is not a lack of accessible information for those who are seriously interested. The problem is people&#039;s idea that &quot;restoration&quot; is simple, does not require any special knowledge or training, and should be as easy as following a recipe in a cook book. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>One of the important goals of the professional organizations such as AIC, IIC, and CAC, and the graduate programs in conservation, was to develop a profession that adhered to scientific standards of practice, and a shared code of ethics for the treatment of historical objects. This was for the benefit of the objects which represent our common heritage. It is also for the benefit of individual clients, who should be able to trust that a conservator is employing best practice and is accountable to a professional code of ethics.</p><p><br /></p><p>In addition to helping insure quality professionals, the rigorous standards for training do have the effect of limiting the number of practicing conservators. Jobs in conservation are quite limited. Only a few museums are large enough, and funded well enough, to support a conservation department. Private practice is also challenging, with few communities able to support a conservator with rates that compensate for their extensive training and the time required for careful treatments. The general reluctance shown on this forum to engage a conservator demonstrates the point. People will pay for a plumber or electrician, but balk at paying for care for their artwork.</p><p><br /></p><p>The closest comparison really is medicine, in terms of the skills and training required. But few will see conservation as essential a practice as medical care.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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