A Model for Vibration Monitoring of Immovable Art in Churches: Reflections on Monitoring as a Tool for Preventive Conservation

ABSTRACT

During construction of a 6 km long railway tunnel close to historic churches in Stockholm, a preventive monitoring model was applied for ensembles of large-scale immovable ecclesiastical artworks. Construction work such as blasting and pile-driving took place during five years under or very close to these immovable works of art. In Sweden, risk assessment related to construction work is focused on risks associated with the building; meanwhile, there is no common approach for protecting the immovable historic works of art and architectural surfaces. This paper discusses how a preventive model for vibration monitoring on immovable artworks was developed and used as well as how the preventive purpose was perceived by different stakeholders during and after the tunnelling work. Experience from this project concludes that monitoring that includes uniform visual inspection becomes crucial for being able to protect the artworks. The concept of vibrations standards relying on fixed numbers of critical vibrations levels for mitigating the effects of vibration on immovable art can be questioned based on experiences from this project.     

Access and Conservation at Pompeii: Strategies for Sustainable Co-existence

ABSTRACT

The extraordinary surviving paintings and floor surfaces at Pompeii are subjected daily to environmental degradation and anthropic pressure. In 2017, the ancient city was visited by 3,400,000 tourists – almost 1,000,000 more than a mere 5?years earlier. This figure looks set to increase, as a result of the revival that the site has undergone in recent years, thanks to generous funding from the European Union and the work of the Great Pompeii Project, which has enabled the reopening of a large number of domestic properties and indeed entire urban quarters which had been closed for decades. However, the increase in site usage necessitates more attention to be paid to conservation. Preventive conservation and planned maintenance, overseen by the Great Pompeii Project, represent the first response. It is conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of archaeologists, architects, conservators and specialists who are present on the site every day, responsible for the management of emergencies, and policy planning through organisation, study, application and evaluation of the consequences. Due to increased tourist numbers, the monitoring team covers every single accessible building, to study the dynamics of visitor flow, and to identify possible interventions to mitigate the effects of anthropic pressure.     

Evidence for Informed Preservation Planning and Advocacy: A Synoptic View

ABSTRACT

We argue the need to demonstrate the value of preservation services to institutions, the public and funders, because it matters conceptually and needs to be supported and validated. To address this imperative, improved and focused data capture and its use by collection managers is advocated as the necessary first step towards the development of an evidence-based culture for preservation services and synoptic decision-making, where evidence enables us to optimise the outcome of planning. To do so, we need tools that enable us to evaluate diverse preservation scenarios. We demonstrate the potential of emerging cross-disciplinary tools and protocols developed in the recent years such as attitude surveys, computational modelling and demographic modelling. These offer evidence that informs prospective preservation planning and, importantly, provides a credible evidence base for advocacy. These possibilities are discussed within the wider context of well-established preservation planning protocols that have shaped collection management for three decades, broadly characterised as retrospective.     

学术期刊非线性评价方法的检验与修正研究

讨论采用非线性评价方法评价可能出现指标值增加、评价值反而下降的异常问题,提出一种新的检验与修正方法——回归调整法,试图从指标选取与非线性评价方法的选择两个方面进行改进。     

Monitoring and Mitigating Particulate Matter Deposition on Decorative Surfaces: Current and Future Approaches in the Palace of Westminster

ABSTRACT

Research into dust deposition rates on the wall paintings in the State Apartments at the Palace of Westminster, London, UK, began during the restoration of the encaustic floor tiles. The study has broadened to inform day-to-day preventive care for the extensive fine art collections on display and the intricately decorated Gothic interiors, providing a powerful tool for the forthcoming restoration and renewal of the Palace. Different monitoring methods, using optical microscopy, macro-photography and software-based image analysis, were investigated. Qualitative analysis with SEM-EDX and optical microscopy allowed the identification of a number of anthropogenic, geogenic and biological sources of particulate matter, while quantitative results elucidated deposition trends, highlighting both seasonal and works-related impacts. Results indicated that mitigation measures taken to protect works of art and limit the diffusion and deposition of particulate matter on surrounding surfaces were successful. A new dust monitoring method, based on imaging of vertical surfaces and on a recently developed image analysis workflow (CHIJ) operated in open-source software (ImageJ) was trialled alongside more traditional methods for measuring dust deposition through collection of particulate matter on proxies. Results showed significant discrepancies between data acquired directly on wall painting surfaces as compared to horizontal glass slides. The advantages, limitations and complementarity of both monitoring methods were identified, and their potential contributions to the development of data-driven conservation approaches for heritage sites were assessed. The relatively low-tech methods and equipment used present useful and adapted tools for collection managers and conservators to inform their decision-making processes.     

A Test Collection for the Evaluation of Content-Based Image Retrieval Algorithms—A User and Task-Based Approach

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) algorithms have been seen as a promising access method for digital photograph collections. Unfortunately, we have very little evidence of the usefulness of these algorithms in real user needs and contexts. In this paper, we introduce a test collection for the evaluation of CBIR algorithms. In the test collection, the performance testing is based on photograph similarity perceived by end-users in the context of realistic illustration tasks and environment. The building process and the characteristics of the resulting test collection are outlined, including a typology of similarity criteria expressed by the subjects judging the similarity of photographs. A small-scale study on the consistency of similarity assessments is presented. A case evaluation of two CBIR algorithms is reported. The results show clear correlation between the subjects' similarity assessments and the functioning of feature parameters of the tested algorithms.     

大数据环境下科技期刊专题出版全过程调控——以《电力自动化设备》为例

开展科技期刊专题出版全过程调控能显著提高科技期刊影响力,大数据环境为此创造了良好的条件。以《电力自动化设备》近几年出版的2期专刊为切入点,对其投稿数量的时序特性、稿件类型和作者机构、专刊受关注度和影响力进行分析,并分析2期专刊影响力存在差异的原因。进一步地,为兼顾专题出版的“质”和“量”,系统地总结了大数据环境下科技期刊专题出版全过程调控策略,以期为期刊同人组织专题出版提供参考。最后,结合工作实践,对大数据环境下数据库、期刊、编辑的转型提出了几点设想。     

Environmental conditions for the safeguarding of collections: A background to the current debate on the control of relative humidity and temperature

Conditions of relative humidity (RH) and temperature within museums and buildings holding collections of cultural heritage objects are often maintained around a strictly controlled set point of about 50 ± 5% RH and 20 or 21 ± 2°C to provide safe, stable conditions for hygroscopic artifacts. It has recently been proposed that these ranges should be relaxed to values that are less energy-intensive to maintain while still being safe for the objects in the collection, with the aim of reducing both carbon footprint and energy use. It is also suggested that conditions should be determined by the needs of individual objects and by the local climate of the region, rather than applying overall values across the museum as a whole. This proposal has led to much discussion within the conservation community. The suggested values, a stable humidity within the range 40–60% RH and a stable temperature within the range 16–25°C for most objects, apart from the most vulnerable, are derived from the results of experimental research on the responses of individual materials to particular conditions of RH and temperature, as well as observations of the behaviour of cultural heritage objects in their own environments and on loan. This paper describes briefly the historical and scientific background to the present discussion.