February 3, 2021
IPI distributed an online questionnaire in November 2020 to inform a current inventory of commonly used materials and designs for sealed frame packages. We are grateful to the more than 100 colleagues, working in a variety of collecting institution types around the world, who responded to our sealed frame package questionnaire. In September 2020, IPI began a three-year research project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services designed to identify the most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible preservation methods of preparing paper-based collection objects for transit and display. During the first phase of this project, IPI distributed an online questionnaire in November 2020 to inform a current inventory of commonly used materials and designs for sealed frame packages. We are grateful to the more than 100 colleagues, working in a variety of collecting institution types around the world, who responded to our sealed frame package questionnaire. Twenty-five respondents also generously contributed annotated schematics of the sealed frame package designs used at their institutions. The information collected will inform additional phases of the project, including testing a variety of sealed frame package designs under several different temperature and relative humidity profiles to compare how they perform. Each design will also be evaluated for cost and environmental waste comparisons. The ultimate goal is to provide guidelines for creating the most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible sealed frame packages that provide the desired preservation goals.
Xinxin Li is IPI’s new 3D Design Assistant working under the supervision of Meredith Noyes, Research Scientist, as part of the IMLS-funded project Foundational Research to Inform Preservation Guidelines for the Creation, Collection, and Consumption of 3D Printed Objects in Museums. Xinxin is a MFA candidate in Industrial Design at RIT and comes to IPI after receiving her BFA in Industrial Design from Savannah College of Art and Design.
The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) in the College of Art and Design (CAD) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is pleased to announce its opening for a Sustainable Preservation Specialist. The Sustainable Preservation Specialist will provide information and guidance to a range of collecting institutions on the role of environment in preservation, and best practices for sustainable environmental management through a variety of consulting, outreach (teaching and publication), research, and technical support activities.
In May-June 2022, IPI conducted an online survey assessing how collecting institutions are using 3D printing and interacting with 3D printed objects and materials. The survey covered three major areas: 3D printed objects and artwork found in collections, conservation treatments of 3D printed objects, and 3D printing in preservation and access activities, including its use as a tool in conservation treatments of non-3D printed objects, exhibition and display, and collections transportation.
IPI is thrilled to announce that Dr. Marvin Cummings will join the team as Research Scientist in November 2022. Marvin brings extensive research experience from the technology sector, with a solid interdisciplinary background across the physical sciences, engineering, and archeometry.