Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2019 - 27

Features
of biological collections. ZooKeys 209: 19-45. https://doi.
org/10.3897/zookeys.209.3135
Simmons, J.E. & Y. Muñoz-Saba (Eds). 2005. Cuidado,
manejo y conservación de las colecciones biológicas. Conservación Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia. 288p.
Julián Lozano-Flórez is a 2019 Fitzergerald Travel Grant
awardee. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos
Alexander von Humboldt, Colombia.
alozano@humboldt.org.co

Risk Assessment project funded by
the Institute of Museum and
Library Services
Suzanne B. McLaren, G.E. Anderson, and M.A.
Burgwin
In October 2017, Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM)
began a two-year grant funded by the Institute of Museum
and Library Services (IMLS) to conduct a risk assessment
of its collections. Initial planning for the project was done
through the development of the funding proposal. Both the
concept and the process had to be supported by administration and staff, which was ensured up front through the development of the grant application. We were fortunate to have
a new administration that supported this project as a logical
step toward developing a long-term collection care strategy.
As a fundamental part of the project, we identified the most
experienced subject matter expert as our project consultant
(Dr. R. R. Waller, Protect Heritage Corp.). Waller has a
longstanding relationship with CM, having been part of the
core team in our two general conservation surveys that were
conducted in 1989 and 2010. Waller worked closely with
the grant application team to inform the development of the
project schedule and internal team. Logically, the application
proposed the use of Waller's Cultural Property Risk Analysis
Model (CPRAM) to assess our risks.
One key element in developing the proposal was the acknowledgment of limited staff time. This was solved by
including funds to hire a collections associate dedicated to
the project, full time for the two-year duration for the project.
There is a steep learning curve for the process. Having this
"gatekeeper" to manage the data being gathered maintains
consistency and focuses adequate staff time to keep the project moving forward.

Once funding was received, the project began with a weeklong visit to CM by Rob Waller and his assistant, Emily
Higginson. Thirty-two staff members attended an intensive
two-day workshop that introduced attendees to the CPRAM
workbook, its terminology and its quantitative elements. In
addition to collections staff, co-workers in our exhibits and
education departments as well as security, custodial and other
facilities personnel were involved in two of the five days of
training. The project, especially the involvement of a wide
array of staff in the workshop, was intended to promote better
understanding and communication of collection concerns
across the museum and our parent organization.
The workshop included both classroom interactions and exercises in the exhibit galleries on the first two days. Subsequent
days allowed the consultants to guide CM staff's input on the
framework that would allow the evaluation of our risks to be
uniquely tailored to our institution's sensibilities within the
bounds of the quantitative model. Each half-day of the last
three days of the workshop was spent on various aspects of
this framework. It was only after a period of emersion in the
risk assessment process that we could adequately recognize
how cleverly and efficiently the foundation of our work was
laid during that 5-day period.
The core work of the project has been to identify risks to the
collections in a quantifiable manner by completing a workbook that documents the hazards to each collection "Unit."
A very detailed risk assessment workbook connects data to
the Cultural Property Risk Analysis Model. Our gatekeeper
works with the most appropriate collections staff in each section to address each hazard on several levels over prescribed
time frames, from immediate to long-term threats, using
the workbook. Although Waller projected that it would take
about ten hours per unit, we have averaged closer to fourteen
hours. This is truly a measure of the care being given to the
questions that are posed. Some questions can be addressed
based on staff knowledge, but frequently there are topics
that require us to think differently, consult our databases and
look at parts of the collection. On more than one occasion,
staff have encountered issues that could be addressed without
hesitation or further recommendation. As each unit is assessed, the completed workbooks are placed into a Dropbox
folder that is shared with the consultants. CM responses are
viewed on weekly basis. If our information requires further
clarification, a workbook comes back to the gatekeeper with
additional, clarifying questions for appropriate staff. The
gatekeeper spends 60 minutes each week interacting with the
consultants on Skype as well. Additionally, the gatekeeper
emails the consultants during the week with questions about
specific workbook questions. Answers are provided by the
consultants on a daily basis. Once the workbook reviews are
September 2019 * 27


https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.209.3135 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.209.3135

Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2019

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