Museum Technicians and Conservators — Tasks

Task statements

• Prepare artifacts for storage and shipping.
• Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.
• Specialize in particular materials or types of object, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural materials.
• Recommend preservation procedures, such as control of temperature and humidity, to curatorial and building staff.
• Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
• Study object documentation or conduct standard chemical and physical tests to ascertain the object's age, composition, original appearance, need for treatment or restoration, and appropriate preservation method.
• Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.
• Repair, restore, and reassemble artifacts, designing and fabricating missing or broken parts, to restore them to their original appearance and prevent deterioration.
• Perform tests and examinations to establish storage and conservation requirements, policies, and procedures.
• Prepare reports on the operation of conservation laboratories, documenting the condition of artifacts, treatment options, and the methods of preservation and repair used.
• Direct and supervise curatorial, technical, and student staff in the handling, mounting, care, and storage of art objects.
• Photograph objects for documentation.
• Enter information about museum collections into computer databases.
• Plan and conduct research to develop and improve methods of restoring and preserving specimens.
• Perform on-site field work which may involve interviewing people, inspecting and identifying artifacts, note-taking, viewing sites and collections, and repainting exhibition spaces.
• Notify superior when restoration of artifacts requires outside experts.
• Estimate cost of restoration work.
• Coordinate exhibit installations, assisting with design, constructing displays, dioramas, display cases, and models, and ensuring the availability of necessary materials.
• Deliver artwork on courier trips.
• Supervise and work with volunteers.
• Preserve or direct preservation of objects, using plaster, resin, sealants, hardeners, and shellac.
• Classify and assign registration numbers to artifacts and supervise inventory control.
• Construct skeletal mounts of fossils, replicas of archaeological artifacts, or duplicate specimens, using a variety of materials and hand tools.
• Lead tours and teach educational courses to students and the general public.