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Request for arcane information
This is being cross-posted to several lists. Please excuse duplication.
I am preparing a presentation on polymeric materials used in the
conservation of natural history museum specimens. Given the limitations
of time and audience patience, I have further narrowed the topic to
those materials which have historically been used in the preparation of
fossil specimens, casts and exhibit mounts, and why they were used, and
with what results.
I'm not asking anyone to do my homework for me, but I am interested in
collecting information on great and not-so-great adhesives, consolidants,
coatings, gapfillers, molding and casting compounds, and other materials
which have been used. I'm also interested in pinpointing the emergence of
rigid and flexible mold-making, the use of expanding foams as casting
agents, and the great failures of the past. The history of materials and
techniques in this field is scant, but what there is is very interesting
and has shaped both the way things are done today and some public
perceptions about fossils and life in the past.
If you are aware of pre-1960 published references to fossil exhibit or
preparation technology in any journal or discipline, or if you just have
accounts that you would like to share, please let me know. Thank you
for your time and consideration.
Sally Shelton
Director, Collections Care and Conservation
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| San Diego Natural History Museum |
| P. O. Box 1390 |
| San Diego, California 92112 USA |
| phone (619) 232-3821; FAX (619) 232-0248 |
| email LIBSDNHM@CLASS.ORG |
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