Twenty Years of Conservation
Improvements through CAP
World Aquarium | CAP Year: 2000 |
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World Aquarium Entrance |
Since 1993, the World Aquarium has cared for and exhibited over 10,000 animals, as well as over 1,000 items in their non-living collections. In 2000, the Aquarium participated in CAP to have its non-living collections assessed. Leonard Sonnenschein, Director of the World Aquarium, is quick to emphasize the benefits of a CAP assessment of non-living collections at institutions with a living-collections focus. He said, "The non-living collections are as valuable as the living, because books and photographs give historical value and context to the living objects. It maintains and increases the value of the institution to give proper care to its non-living collections."
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World Aquarium Storage |
The World Aquarium’s CAP assessment was conducted by conservator Ruth Norton and historic structure assessor Scott Dowd. As a result of the assessment, the World Aquarium began an innovative approach to accessioning new non-living collections items. Much as a new animal acquisition for the Aquarium needs to be quarantined before being integrated with the existing collection, the Aquarium began to "quarantine" the non-living items that were being considered for accession. In the quarantine process, the artifacts are placed in a temporary display that allows both visitors and the education staff to learn about and come to appreciate the artifact. The process helps the Aquarium staff to determine whether they would like to accession the artifact, while simultaneously giving them an idea of the object’s potential costs and conservation value. The staff has found that after the quarantining process, the accessioned artifacts come to have more value to both the Aquarium and the public. Sonnenschein recommends the practice to all museums.
Sonnenschein had this advice to offer to museums participating in CAP: "Your CAP assessors are a wealth of knowledge. The greatest benefit that CAP brought to us was to bring in a respected conservation expert to provide advice on collections management. Get all the expertise and advice out of the assessors that you can." When asked about CAP’s effect on his institution, Sonnenschein said, "The underpinning that CAP gave us helped the World Aquarium to be recognized as a professional educational institution."
Thanks to Leonard Sonnenschein for his help with this article.
Photos courtesy of World Aquarium
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