Speaker's Biographies
24th Annual Preservation Conference
March 18, 2010
Speaker's Biographies
Norbert S. Baer
Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Conservation, Conservation Center
Ph.D. 1969, New York; M.S. 1962, Wisconsin; B.S. 1959, Brooklyn College.
Research interests:
Application of physiochemical methods to the study and preservation of cultural property; environmental policy and damage to materials; application of risk assessment and risk management to the preservation of cultural property.
Selected publications:
N. S. Baer and F.Snickars, Editors, Rational Decision-making in the Preservation of Cultural Property, Dahlem university Press, Berlin (2001)
N. S. Baer, "Risk Management, Value and Decision-making," The Paper Conservator 25, 53-58 (2001)
N. S. Baer, S. Fitz and R.A. Livingston, Editors, Conservation of Historic Brick Structures, Donhead, Dorset (1998)
N. S. Baer and R. Snethlage, Editors, "Saving our Architectural Heritage: The Conservation of Historic Stone Structures", John Wiley & Sons, London (1997)
N. S. Baer, Chairman, "Currency Features for Visually Impaired People", National Academy Press, Washington, DC (1995)
N.S. Baer, Editor, Training in Conservation: A Symposium on the Occasion of the Dedication of the Stephen Chan House, Institute of Fine Arts (1989).
Selected honors:
Fellow, American Research Center in Egypt, 1994; Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation, 1983-1984.
Doris A. Hamburg, the Director of Preservation Programs at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), has agency-wide responsibility for developing and implementing policy and programs to ensure the preservation of the almost 4 million cubic feet of permanent federal paper, photographic, audio, video, and film records and 600,000 artifacts held at 28 archives and Presidential Libraries in Washington, DC and across the United States. Prior to NARA, Ms. Hamburg worked in several preservation positions at the Library of Congress. Ms. Hamburg holds an A.B. degree in mediaeval studies (Mount Holyoke College), M.A. in art history (Columbia University) and a M.S. and Certificate in Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts and a Certificate in Museum Studies (University of Delaware/ Winterthur Museum).
Nancy Bell is Head of Collection Care for The National Archives, UK (TNA) and is responsible for developing and implementing preservation programs for one of the oldest and largest archives in the world. Prior to taking up this post in 2008 she headed TNA’s Research and Development team that was responsible for the delivery of an integrated research program for the National Archives which included conservation science research.
In recent years she has led research projects in collaboration with University of London, Centre for Sustainable Heritage, to model indoor building environments, University of Cardiff Biophysics Group to improve our understanding of the making and meaning of Domesday Book, a 10th c. manuscript using microfocus x-ray diffraction and to study the effects of moisture on collagen based historic structures. Current work also includes the application of economic models to the management of cultural heritage. She has been Principal Investigator for the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) sponsored Science and Heritage program Research Cluster, EGOR: Environmental Guidelines Opportunities and Risks. She is a member of the AHRC Peer Review College, and the AHRC Science and Heritage Program advisory panel. She has recently joined the government’s Department of Cultural, Media and Sport Science and Research advisory board.
Nancy was born in the USA and educated at the University of Maryland where she studied history graduating with an MA in 1982. She received an award for the Council of Library Resources, USA to study book and paper conservation in the UK where she specialized in the conservation of medieval manuscripts. She worked for 12 years in Oxford where she established the Oxford Conservation Consortium, a unique co-operative facility to provide conservation and preservation services for the Oxford’s collections.
She has taught conservation in the UK and Canada and has published and lectured in this field, she is member of the Institute for Conservation, an Accredited Conservator and a specialist advisor to two award granting bodies.
She currently lives in London, UK.
Irene Karsten
Irene Karsten completed a Ph.D. in Human Ecology with specialization in textile conservation science at the University of Alberta in 2003, following training in general art conservation techniques at Fleming College (Diploma in Art Conservation Techniques, 1994) and museum studies at the University of Toronto, (Master of Museum Studies, 1987).
Irene recently joined the Canadian Conservation Institute as Preservation Development Advisor where she conducts broad based facilities assessments and develops strategies and project management solutions with respect to the management of collections for museums, heritage groups, galleries and other specialized institutions. From 2005-2009, she was Museum Conservator for the University of Alberta Museums in Edmonton, Alberta where she was responsible for a preventive conservation program for 35 collections on a large university campus. Projects focused on collection storage upgrades and collection moves, integrated pest management, consultation on exhibition materials and mount design, and emergency preparedness planning. Irene also taught undergraduate courses on preventive conservation and textile conservation treatment and supervised graduate students in textile and collections conservation.
Relevant CCI Publications on Preventive Conservation and Risk Management, related to the presentation Ms. Karsten will be giving:
Strang, T. and Grattan, D. Temperature and humidity Considerations for the Preservation of Organic Collections - the Isoperm Revisited. e-Preservation Science, 7, (2010), pp.122-128.
(available online at : http://www.morana-rtd.com/e-preservationscience/2009/Strang-29-10-2008.pdf)
Strang T., and Kigawa R. Combatting Pests of Cultural Property. CCI Technical Bulletin No. 29. Ottawa: Canadian Conservation Institute, 2009.
Strang, T. and Kigawa, R. Levels of IPM control: Matching conditions to performance and effort. Collection Forum, 21 (2006), pp. 96-116.
Tétreault, J. Airborne pollutants in museums, galleries, and archives: Risk assessment, control strategies, and preservation management. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Conservation Institute, 2003.
Tétreault, J. “Fire Risk Assessment for Collections in Museums.” JCAC, 33 (2008), pp. 3-21.
Allison McGuire Olson is a Preservation Program Officer for Special Projects at the National Archives and Records Administration. She has been working on the development and implementation of the Holdings Management System, a technology platform to manage hard copy original records.
She has an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Art Conservation from the University of Delaware and a Masters of Art Conservation from Queen’s University, where she specialized in Paper Conservation. She has worked as a paper conservator at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Archives and Records Administration.
She presented “Conservation of US World War II Propaganda Posters” that was published in the Book and Paper Annual, 2005 and “Stumbling toward Monitoring Fading”, at a Washington Conservation Guild Meeting in 2000. She co-authored with Susan Cote and Michele Phillips “The History, Treatment and Conservation of Three Shaped Crayon Portraits,” which was presented at the Association of Graduate Programs in Conservation, 1990.
Paul Messier
Paul Messier is an independent conservator of photographs working in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The sustaining focus of his practice is the conservation treatment of fine art photographic prints. Increasingly authentication research and conservation surveys for clients worldwide are major additional pursuits. Authentication studies are largely based on an ongoing characterization of his reference collection of 20th century photographic paper performed in collaboration with institutions including the Getty Conservation Institute and the Museum of Modern Art. He has consulted on major conservation surveys of large, decentralized, photograph collections including Harvard University, the Library of Congress, the State Hermitage Museum, Yale University and the New York Public Library. Each of these survey projects were funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He holds an A.B. cum laude in art history from Vassar College and an M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Study from the Art Conservation Program at Buffalo State College, State University of New York.
Relevant Web sites
http://paulmessier.com
http://albumen.stanford.edu
http://videopreservation.stanford.edu
http://photogravure.com
http://www.aipad.com
http://www.video-id.com
Selected Publications
Impact of Authenticity Scandals on the Field of Photograph Conservation, Topics in Photographic Preservation (in press)
Automating Art Print Authentication Using Metric Learning, co-author with Charles Parker of the Eastman Kodak Company, Proceedings of the Twenty First Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference (2009)
A Technical Analysis of Man Ray’s Violon D’Ingres, in the exhibition catalog The Long Arm of Coincidence, Selections from the Rosalind and Melvin Jacobs Collection, Pace/MacGill Gallery, 2009
Of paper fibers & optical brighteners, positive impact of authenticity scandals, PhotoNews Zeitung Für Fotografie Oct, 2008
Chapters Crayon Portraits & 20th Century Black and White Papers for the book Le Vocabulaire Technique de la Photographie, éditions Marval, 2008, edited by Anne Cartier-Bresson. Awarded the Prix du Mai for outstanding art book
Understanding 20th C. Photographs: The Baryta Layer Symposium, Topics in Photograph Preservation, Volume 12, 2007
Chapter entitled Knowing What You Have - Technical Analysis of Photographs with Notes on Fakes and Forgeries for the book The Photograph Collector’s Guide, Bullfinch Press (in press)
Notes on Dating Photographic Paper, Topics in Photograph Preservation, Volume 11, Spring 2005
Optical Brightening Agents in Photographic Paper, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 44:1, 2005
Chapter entitled Preservation, Restoration and Display and Photographic Processes for the book A Portrait of Baseball Photography, MastroNet, Inc, 2005
Authenticity Issues in Photography, International Foundation for Art Research Journal, v.7, #2, 2004
Dara Birnbaum's “Tiananmen Square: Break-In Transmission.” A Case Study in the Examination, Documentation and Preservation of a Video-Based Installation, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Fall/Winter 2002
Laser Characterization and Cleaning of Nineteenth Century Daguerreotypes, (co-author with V.Golovlev, M. Gresalfi, J. Miller & G. Romer), Journal of Cultural Heritage, 1, 2000
Digital Documentation: Are We There Yet? Lead article in the AIC Newsletter, Jan., 2000
Cleaning Color Photographs, Postprints from the 1998 Kent Workshop on treatment problems
Assessing Digital Video as a Preservation Medium, Bay Area Video Coalition conference post prints, 1998
Sherelyn Ogden
Sherelyn Ogden is the Head of Conservation at the Minnesota Historical Society, a position she has held for nearly eleven years. She oversees the Society’s comprehensive preservation program that cares for collections in three museums, a major research library, the state’s archives, and twenty three historic sites scattered around the state. Previously she held the positions of Director of Field Services at the Midwest Art Conservation Center and the Director of Book Conservation at the Northeast Document Conservation Center.
She has more than thirty five years of experience in the field as a practicing conservator, consultant and teacher. She has written or edited fifty seven professional publications, including four books, one of which is Preservation Planning: Guidelines for Writing a Long-Range Plan, a methodology for identifying and prioritizing institutional preservation needs.She has conducted well over 100 preservation planning surveys for a wide variety of cultural institutions. She was the project director of an IMLS-funded Connecting to Collections planning grant for Minnesota, and collaborated on developing information gleaned from this project into a state-wide action plan that is sustainable at the state and local levels and capable of taking advantage of changing opportunities. She and her colleagues translated this plan into a proposal to IMLS for a Connecting to Connections implementation grant.
Sherelyn trained in conservation at the Newberry Library in Chicago where she spent five years. She holds a BA from Bucknell University and an MA from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago, and she is a Fellow of both the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Heritage Preservation and is a member of several professional organizations.
Web sites:
Minnesota Historical Society
www.mnhs.org
Conservation page on Society’s web site
www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation
Long-Range Preservation Plan
www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/reports/2010longrangeplan
Emergency Preparedness Plan
www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/reports/emergencyplan
Collections Care Practical Guidelines
www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/connectingmn/CollectionsCare
Books and Monographs:
Preservation of Library and Archival Materials: A Manual. Sherelyn Ogden (ed). Andover, MA: Northeast Document Conservation Center; 1992. 160 pp. Translated into Russian. Second Edition, 1994. 250 pp. Translated into Spanish and Portuguese. Third Edition, 1999. 412 pp. Electronic version available at www.nedcc.org and on CD-ROM through Northeast Document Conservation Center.
Preservation Planning: Guidelines for Writing a Long-Range Preservation Plan. By Sherelyn Ogden. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums; 1997. 247 pp. plus diskette.
The Storage of Art on Paper: A Basic Guide for Institutions. By Sherelyn Ogden. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois; 2001. 30 pp. Electronic version available at www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/reports/occasional_papers.
Caring for American Indian Objects: A Practical and Cultural Guide. Sherelyn Ogden (ed). St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press; 2004.
Articles:
“A Regional Perspective On Preservation: The NEDCC Experience,” Libraries & Culture, Vol. 27, No. 1, Winter 1992, 49-58.
“A Technical Assist: Utilizing Technicians to Fill Treatment Needs Traditionally Handled by Conservators,” Theresa Percy and Sherelyn Ogden, Museum News, March/April 1993, 68-72.
“Experience and Examples in the Preservation of Scrapbooks and Albums,” Advances in Preservation and Access, Volume 2, Barbra Buckner Higginbotham (ed.), Medford, New Jersey: Learned Information Inc., 1995, 339-352.
“Security from Loss: Water and Fire Damage, Biological Agents, Theft, and Vandalism,” Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship, Vol. 11, No.1, 1996, 43-47.
“Conservation,” revised and updated by Sherelyn Ogden, International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science – 2nd Edition, John Feather and Paul Sturges(eds.), London and New York: Routledge, 2003.
“Understanding, Respect, and Collaboration in Cultural Heritage Preservation: A Conservator’s Developing Perspective,” Library Trends, Vol. 56, No. 1, Summer, 2007, 275-287.
Debra Hess Norris
Debra Hess Norris is the Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education, Chair of the Art Conservation Department at the University of Delaware, and Professor of Photograph Conservation. She graduated magna cum laude with an interdisciplinary BA degree in chemistry, art history, and studio art (1977) and MS in conservation (1980) from the University of Delaware.
Since 1985, Norris has authored more than 30 articles and book chapters on care and treatment of photographic materials, emergency response, ethics, and conservation education; and taught more than 95 workshops and seminars for conservators and allied professionals. Norris has lectured and consulted on the preservation of photographic collections worldwide, including in Russia, India, Lebanon, Denmark, France, Finland, the Netherlands, Mexico, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand.
She greatly enjoys fund raising and has secured over $9 million in external grants for the Art Conservation Department at the University of Delaware. Norris was the chair of Heritage Preservation (2003- 2008) and president of the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (1993-97). From 1990-93 she chaired the AIC Ethics and Standards Committee that developed a revised Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. She is serving as, president of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts Board, US commissioner to UNESCO, treasurer of the Friends of the National Gallery of Denmark, and project director of The Andrew W. Mellon Collaborative Workshops in Photograph Conservation. In October 2009, Norris and Vinod Daniel were co-chairs for the Salzburg Global Seminar that was funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and convened 60 invited delegates from around the world in Salzburg, Austria to address pressing challenges associate with the preservation of our global cultural heritage. Recently, she has spoken at many of the IMLS Connecting to Collections national conferences on topics ranging from the preservation of photographic materials to fundraising for collections care.
In 2002, Norris was inducted into the University of Delaware’s Alumni Wall of Fame. In January 2004, she was appointed as the Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts. Norris has received the Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award for outstanding service to the American Institute for Conservation (1998), the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award for excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals (2004), and the American Institute for Conservation University Products Award for distinguished achievement in the conservation of cultural property (2008).
She looks forward to an upcoming (2010) publication of a compilation of fundamental writings in the field of photograph conservation – Readings in Photograph Conservation – which she has edited with Jennifer Jae Gutierrez to be published by the Getty Conservation Institute.
Relevant Web sites at the University of Delaware:
http://www.udel.edu/gradoffice/
Selected Publications:
Forthcoming with Jennifer Jae Gutierrez, Readings in Photograph Conservation, The Getty Conservation Institute (2010).
Forthcoming with Nora W. Kennedy, Zeina Arida and Tamara Sawaya. Preservation of the Photographic Heritage of the Eastern Mediterranean Preprints for the International Institute for Conservation, Istanbul 2010 Conference.
The United States Heritage Emergency National Task Force: Disaster recovery now and in the future, (co-authors, Jane S. Long and Mary Rogers), Conservation Legacies of the Florence Flood of 1966, Archetype Publications Ltd., London, England, pp. 178-184, 2009.
Challenges and Accomplishments: National emergency preparedness, response & recovery, Proceedings from the Sustainable Cultural Heritage Conference, sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) of Italy, Washington, DC, 2009.
Fundraising for Conservation Education in a Changing Financial Environment , Proceedings from the International Council of Museums Committee on Conservation Working Group on Conservation Education, Vantaa, Finland, 2005.
Preservation for Posterity: The Paul R. Jones Photography Collection, A Century of African American Art. The University Museum, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware and Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, pp. 95-101, 2004.
Photographs, The Winterthur Guide to Caring for Your Collection, The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc: Winterthur, Delaware, pp. 79-91, 2000.
The History of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, Proceedings from the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Annual Conference of the Association of North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of Cultural Property. Petit Printing Corporation: Buffalo, New York, pp. 49-57, 1999.
Disaster Recovery: Salvaging Photograph Collections. Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, Technical Bulletin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1998.
Establishing Priorities for Preservation, Playback, A Preservation Primer for Video, Bay Area Video Coalition, San Francisco, pp. 60-70, 1998.
Effective Emergency Response: Current Activities and Future Needs, Proceedings of the Kobe/Tokyo International Symposium on Risk Preparedness for Cultural Properties, Chuo-Koron Bijutsu Shuppan, Tokyo, pp. 333-341, 1997.
Care of Photographic Collections, Appendix R, in National Park Service, Museum Handbook, Part 1, National Park Service, Washington, DC, pp. 1-43, 1996.
Worked with Getty Conservation Institute on the Development of a CD-ROM on the Preservation of Photographic Materials - Albumen Photographs Prototype, 1995-1996.
The Preservation of Photographic Collections in Natural History Collections, Storage of Natural History Collections: A Preventive Conservation Approach, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, Iowa City, Iowa, pp. 355-365, 1995.
The Conservation Treatment of Deteriorating Photographic Print Materials, Postprints from The Imperfect Image: Photographs, Their Past, Present and Future, The Centre for Photographic Conservation, London, United Kingdom, pp. 301-367, 1992.
Photographs, Caring for Your Collections, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., pp. 64-75, 1992.
Preservation Planning for Diverse Photographic Holdings, Photographic Preservation and the Research Library, The Research Libraries Group, Inc., Mountain View, California, pp. 19-27, 1991.
The Removal of a Silver Gelatin Photograph Adhered to Glass, Topics in Photographic Preservation, Volume III, American Institute for Conservation Photographic Materials Group, Washington, DC, pp. 86-92, 1989.