Email digest for the Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList) egroup.
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1. RE: Seeking papyrus for purchase
2. Webinar Series: Best Practice for Using the IPI Preservation Metrics to
Assess Risk in Organic Collections
3. biomolecular identification of pinniped use in medieval manuscripts
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1.From: Niccolo Caldararo
Posted: Sunday April 13, 2025 8:09 AM
Subject: RE: Seeking papyrus for purchase
Message: Dear Ms Rendon
I have in my laboratory storage 2 sheets of papyrus purchased from the
Cheops Papyrus Exhibition on Sphinx Street Nazlet el Saman Giza, in the 1980s.
We were using it for a similar purpose as you deascribe at that time. There is
about 2 sheets left 10” x 14in that I would be happy to send you no charge, if
you can send me a Stamped, self-addressed envelope, to the Fairfax, Ca. address.
Niccolo
Sent from my iPhone
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Original Message:
Sent: 4/11/2025 12:05:00 PM
From: Monica Argumedo Rendon
Subject: Seeking papyrus for purchase
Dear community,
Our lab is looking to consult some reliable sources that provide access to
papyri for purchase. We are hosting an REU summer group of students and want to
provide them with the opportunity to experiment with papyri.
Many thanks,
Monica
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Monica Argumedo Rendon (she/her/ella)
PhD Student
Educe Lab | Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
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2.From: Jennifer Gutierrez
Posted: Sunday April 13, 2025 2:16 PM
Subject: Webinar Series: Best Practice for Using the IPI Preservation Metrics
to Assess Risk in Organic Collections
Message: Webinar Series: Best Practice for Using the IPI Preservation Metrics
to Assess Risk in Organic Collections
Dates: April 24 and May 8 2025
Time: 1:00-2:00pm EDT
Presenter: Marvin Cummings
Last day to register: April 17, 2025
Audience
This webinar series is designed for collections and facilities staff
responsible for evaluating environmental data collected in collections spaces.
It will be of particular interest to collections professionals using
eClimateNotebook to manage and interpret environmental data.
Description When evaluating a collection space environment, one of the
primary questions to address is: how can I quantify the risks to my collection?
The IPI environmental metrics for decision-making, Preservation Metrics, were
first developed in the 1990s to help collections care specialists 1) account
for the complexities between deterioration of collection materials and their
environmental exposure and 2) to provide balanced approximations of the risks
posed by particular storage and display environments. This two-part webinar
series serves an introduction to using the IPI Preservation Metrics to evaluate
and assess collection risks.
Team Participation Encouraged
In collecting institutions an environmental management team that includes
both collections and facilities staff can create a structure to environmental
management that includes regular meetings of collections and facilities staff
to review data, discuss strategy, plan for changes, and generally inform each
other about what is going on in their respective roles. For this webinar series
we suggest team participation and encourage facilities and collections staff to
attend the webinar sessions together.
Learn more and register:
https://store.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/products/webinar-series-best-practice-using-ipi-preservation-metrics-assess-risk-organic-collections
<https://store.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/products/webinar-series-best-practice-using-ipi-preservation-metrics-assess-risk-organic-collections>
About IPI
The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) is a preservation research center in the
College of Art and Design at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.
IPI achieves its mission to support and inform the preservation of cultural
heritage collections through applied research, the development of practical
preservation resources and tools, professional-level education and training
programs, and consulting and materials testing services. As a non-profit
research center, IPI depends on private and public philanthropy to fund its
research program. Institutions that use IPI preservation products and
consulting and testing services further support IPI's mission.
Learn more about IPI at: https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/
<https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/>
3.From: Elodie Lévêque
Posted: Sunday April 13, 2025 5:58 PM
Subject: biomolecular identification of pinniped use in medieval manuscripts
Message:
Dear Conservation community
After several years of work, our article "Hiding in plain sight: the
biomolecular identification of pinniped use in medieval manuscripts" is now
available in Royal Society Open Science. 📄 Open access article:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241090
<https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241090>
Please read and share!
Abstract: This research investigates medieval manuscript bindings from
Cistercian libraries, particularly Clairvaux and its daughter houses, using
biocodicological methods. Through innovative analyses (eZooMS and ancient DNA),
the study reveals the unexpected use of sealskin-mainly from harbour, harp, and
bearded seals-in twelfth- and thirteenth-century bindings. The seals were
traced to populations in Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland,
suggesting that Cistercian monasteries were connected to far-reaching trade
networks, including the Norse fur trade. These findings challenge long-held
assumptions about local material sourcing in manuscript production and
highlight the value of biological approaches in understanding medieval material
culture.
📄 Open access article:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241090
<https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241090>
📰 Press coverage:
• New York Times
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/science/medieval-books-hair-binding.html>
• Nature <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01108-w>
• Science
<https://www.science.org/content/article/medieval-manuscripts-were-bound-baby-seal-fur>
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Elodie Lévêque
Associate Professor
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Master Conservation-Restauration des
Biens Culturels
Bures-sur-Yvette
France
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