Study

Techniques

Preparation, conservation and documentation, in our own words with the science cited.

• Acid preparation: acetic and formic— Preparation
• Air abrasion basics— Preparation
• Byne's disease— Conservation
• Cleaning shells: what bleach does and does not do— Conservation
• Condition reporting— Records
• Consolidants and reversibility— Preparation
• Estate planning for a collection: what museums need— Records
• Insurance documentation for a collection— Records
• Labels that survive— Curation
• Mechanical preparation: pin vice and air scribe— Preparation
• Meteorite basics: fusion crust, streak, magnet, density— Identification
• Micro-vertebrates and sieving— Field & lab
• Numbering schemes: locality-based accession numbers— Curation
• Packing and shipping specimens— Handling
• Photographing for identification— Identification
• Pyrite decay— Conservation
• Repair, restoration, composite— Disclosure
• Reversibility and glass transition: B-72, B-76, cyanoacrylate— Preparation
• Scale bars and cross-polarised light— Photography
• Spotting fakes and undisclosed restoration— Authentication
• Stabilising pyrite: dry, seal, coat — and what not to use— Conservation
• Storage materials: acid-free, Ethafoam, no oak— Curation
• UV light and amber— Identification