dk nkf - Nordisk Konservatorforbund Danmark

at the (very) occasional public openings of the site
although the donor of the fire engine did arrange to
return yearly at his own cost to do the maintenance
overhaul and cleaning.
However, there was a certain amount of dissatisfaction
at there being only two operating vehicles in the whole
of the Science Museum’s collection where, once upon
a time, many had been operational. The then-curator
of Transport had expressed an interest in 2006 in
running some of the buses in the collections and senior
museum management had requested the conservation
manager at Wroughton to investigate the possibilities.
A timely attendance at the BigStuff conference held
in Bochum in 2007 offered the opportunity to hear
from and to discuss with museum peers the current
attitudes and approaches to working objects. During
the lively proceedings in the workshop “Restoring to
working glory; to work or not to work?” [7], Joanna
Barr, Principal Conservator, Artlab Australia, gave
a summation of her major research project for her
master’s degree: “The Conservation of Working
Objects: Development of a Conservation Management
Tool” [8] This conservation management tool had
evolved over a number of years; the writing of it had
been prompted by a request by the National Motor
Museum of Australia for ‘mothballing’ a motorcycle.
“Whilst this seemed to be the most appropriate option
for this particular vehicle, Artlab felt that these sorts
of decisions should be based on rigorous research,
assessment and decision- making processes rather
than the ‘whim’ of the current curator.” [9]
The knowledge of this document, which was in the
process of being altered from an academic paper to a
type of user guide, prompted the decision to develop
not only a process for running vehicles from the
Science Museum’s collection but to review the ad
hoc approach to the selection and operation of any
historic object from the collections and to formalise
the procedures within a policy document.
The policy would reconsider the museum’s past
criteria for selection and operation and bring them
into line with contemporary museum practice for
exhibit risk management. In addition to taking into
account the collection’s care needs and the integrity
of individual objects, there were the issues of limited
resources, health and safety factors, including
current regulations, and available skills. In order
to assure a consensus of approach within those
industrial and technological museums currently
revising their own approach towards working
objects, it seemed sensible to build on Barr’s work,
which was already being considered for use by a
number of museums. Although unpublished at that
point, she had generously shared her research and
her document and this has provided the framework
for developing our policy and procedures.
The Draft Policy
After reviewing all the conservation management
literature cited by Barr as well as other papers already
gathered throughout twenty years of conservation
practice, researching existing related policies of
both the Science Museum and other institutions and
exhaustively reading Barr’s document, a draft policy
was produced. It was realised during the process
that the policy of the Science Museum was to
operate objects; all else was process for responsible
operation and would be itemised in the procedures.
So the policy itself was short and to the point:
“The Science Museum holds one of the world’s
pre-eminent collections in science, technology and
medicine. These collections provide an unequalled
record of the first and second industrial revolutions
and beyond. They contain not only unique icons
of international significance, but also the everyday
items that show the impact of science on how human
lives are lived.
As leaders in science communication and learning,
the Science Museum remains committed to operating
historic objects, recognising that the high levels
of interest and the educational value in “working
objects” make a meaningful connection between the
museum’s visitors and the collections.
The Science Museum’s selection, risk assessment,
and review processes are based on the tenets of
the National Heritage Act, 1983, in order to ensure
that working objects are used in a safe, secure and
sustainable way, according to best practice, now and
for the future, without compromising their physical,
historical and technological integrity.”[10]
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