3/16/09
This issue of NAME's Exhibitionist is a Green Issue! They have a nifty exhibit checklist put out by OMSI, and excellent articles including one by John Jacobsen co-chair of the AAM PIC Green, and by Tim McNeil at the UCDavis Design Museum. And they have a good review of The Green Museum. If you don't get Exhibitionist regularly, but you're headed to AAM, be sure to look for the NAME booth and purchase a copy - no carbon-fueled shipping required that way.

I plan to use the issue as a textbook for my Green Museum class in the GW Museum Studies Program.


3/21/2009
Matthew S. Miller has written a very accessible book Protecting Museum Exhibits from their Environments (And Vice Versa). {"Accessible" is high praise, byt the way - makes all the difference in explaining important technical subjects.} He and I met at the Small Museums Conference in Ocean City, MD last month. And his wife Ruth Ellen Miller and John Lease have a great pamphlet that walks you through "Raising Money from Funds Hidden in Your Exhibit Lighting". It has a worksheet for assessing current energy costs versus fiber optic options. You can look into it - NoUVIR

I was tweeting last week about "save a staff member - cut your energy bills" and surely folks thought I was exaggerating, but depending upon the scale of your installations, building, or current practices, there can be significant savings made by cutting energy use, not staff. Of course, in this case installing a new system to save energy in two years can be a cash-flow challenge - but if you have a funding angel or funding opportunity based on energy conservation, DO IT. If you don't have those opportunities, then start with basic energy reduction practices in your offices and non-exhibit areas while exploring exhibit-area changes. Don't forget - the simplest act is to wait to light up your exhibits until your public walks in the door.

2/18/09
In our green world Elizabeth Wylie and I had the chance to connect to Cecily M. Grzywacz at The Getty Conservation Institute. She's written a great, HIGHLY-accessible book calledMonitoring for Gaseous Pollutants in Museum Environments: Tools for Conservation. I presented some of its findings to my Green Museum class, having found it very useful for discussing the importance of recognizing the differences between indoor and outdoor pollutants, and acknowledging that the VOCs we worry about for humans aren't necessarily the same problem for collections, but that other gases fine for humans are a big problem for objects. What I like best about the book, after the understandable explanations, are the clear explanations of the range of affordable monitoring devices, and the down-to-earth case studies. The book works as well for serious collections managers, registrars, and conservators as it does for busy historical society directors trying to do it all. Congratulations Cecily on 21 years of hard study. We thank you for it! SB


12/13/08
A must-read for anyone thinking beyond the basics of green: Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things. It's a lovely read, and a pleasure to hold in your hands.

11/11/08
A must-read to help sort through the decision-making of 'is this better, or is this better?'.
At $10 bucks from Amazon, it doesn't get any easier!
The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Decision-making