Environmental Monitoring for Museum Curation

CLEVELAND - Aug. 17, 2021 - PRLog -- Data Loggers Assist Curators with Protecting Their Collections

In galleries and museums, accurate and reliable environmental monitoring data is essential for managing the preservation process. In fact, many art and curative organizations will not loan their collections out unless the institution in question can prove that they have a monitoring system in place to ensure that the art is always stored in safe conditions.

A data logger is an ideal device to continuously record environmental data and archive the readings for later analysis and report generation. In this brief overview, we cover the basics of environmental monitoring and how it helps curators to protect their collections.

What Should You Monitor?

Common parameters of interest in museum applications include:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Visible light (Illuminance) and Ultraviolet light (UV levels)

Environmental data loggers track and alarm temperature, humidity, and illuminance/UV light to protect artwork and other installations in galleries and historical sites. These values can all be monitored at high accuracy. Turn-key solutions are also available to save users from the difficulty and cost of installing a wired system in an existing facility.

How to Monitor Temperature

At the most basic level, there are two types of temperature loggers:

1. Complete units that come with a built-in external sensor
2. Units that require the addition of a separate temperature sensor

Many temperature data loggers come equipped with their own internal sensors, so you don't have to purchase and connect any sensors.

How to Monitor Humidity

Humidity is an important parameter to track when you're storing materials such as metals, cloth or tapestry, and paper products. Rot and rust are common results in facilities that neglect high humidity levels. As with temperature sensor placement, be sure you have enough sensors to give good coverage of the goods or room you're monitoring.

Going Wireless

Because of the sheer size of some exhibit areas, it can extremely difficult to install a wired system. Wireless monitoring systems are ideal for museum interiors to verify that exhibits are being maintained in a controlled and non-damaging environment.

Wireless systems are ideal when:

• You need to monitor a number of distributed points or floors
• It's difficult or expensive to run wires from these points back to a central location
• Data needs to be collected and transmitted from a vehicle while it is in motion
• Data and/or alarms need to be collected from a site that is difficult to access or doesn't have regular internet connectivity.

For further information on environmental monitoring systems for Museums and Archives, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Application Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit us at https://www.dataloggerinc.com.