Microfade Testing for Heritage Institutions: A Canadian Experience

ABSTRACT

Since 2008, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) has provided microfade testing (MFT) as a service to more than 13 Canadian museums, archives, and galleries. In addition to obtaining lightfastness data for objects and collections planned for exhibition, MFT is also used for research and for training. This article summarizes the experiences and practices that arose from the variety of objects tested, the demand for the service, and the lessons learned. These include protocols to ensure reliable and reproducible results with multiple users, ways to report large number of results, and how MFT data are used with the CCI Light Damage Calculator for effective communication of the results with other museum staff for exhibit planning.