Email digest for the Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList) egroup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 3 articles on conservation + a discussion from this list 2. RE: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books 3. RE: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books 4. Newly exposed underwater cultural heritage ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.From: Christian Mueller-Straten Posted: Saturday August 1, 2026 1:22 PM Subject: 3 articles on conservation + a discussion from this list Message: Dear colleagues in conservation, It is a great pleasure to give you free access to the latest issue of the museum and conservation magazine EXPOTIME!: https://expotimejuly26.maex-uploads.de/ <https://expotimejuly26.maex-uploads.de/> Despite challenging times, this 124-page edition is the most extensive in the magazine's history. It features two commentaries, scholarly articles on museum work around the globe, 22 pages of news, comings ang goings, 2 interviews, 2 impressive videos, and over 70 active links for sources and further reading. As a special service, we are providing a PDF list of all 270 institutions mentioned. <https://cdn.website-editor.net/s/6f6e8d277a724258aa60d71b16478c1c/files/uploaded/Mentionedinstitutions.pdf?Expires=1788112286&Signature=WG4Q7sZmEigs2hEETmqnI6cxxOITcdHUAKsKrS6zbDcWy7fLWQhbZIzHyubQpL-zDcR1WFvkFZM~1Xene5mxdn4t3s9c1Ka09Gnug-e9UUOFU5JEFRrASjeaz5WQ3LKppBWFCUhmDbsWDq8Lq9a7tcWDK~Ovz0mReJgXBwqCG~WbiwrCZfbQcmojsSQNEbuBJV5StgJ-1EC8WhCjtELc8UUdUcckMZedZhiXflUqTb6kdSfuN~xUOxo52xrAFtKyHr2HeGusqKQiB4WK2DXbaGyDNBC2hQME7dlb-womjgSVGEyaP6x80TVBlEM7Rlz-WZtDsENcz~04MXjIiuEnfA__&Key-Pair-Id=K2NXBXLF010TJW> The issue contains three articles on conservation topics: 93-103 Ulrich Weilhammer: The Big Move: The Relocation and Reinstallation of the Atlanta Cyclorama (revised and corrected version) 105-111 Paul-Bernhard Eipper: Wrong re-framing orders 112-117 Johanna Hänsch: Framing Expressionist works at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A research and reframing project by MURRER RAHMEN | FRAMES plus the "Yellow-Green Staining on Polyethylene Bags" discussion from this list. EXPOTIME! is not a newsletter, not „just public relations" and, of course, not SPAM: EXPOTIME! is committed to critical journalism and scholarly insight, based on ICOM ethics. EXPOTIME! is published quarterly and offers an ideal platform for you to raise your profile - whether through brief news items, longer articles, or low cost advertisements. We distribute each issue to approx. 200,000 colleagues of you worldwide. Back issues can be read here: https://www.museum-aktuell.de/expotime <https://www.museum-aktuell.de/expotime> Please feel free to email us if you have any comments or additions regarding the magazine. We publish reader feedback (anonymously, if preferred, and with pictures). Kind regards, Christian Müller-Straten, PhD Editor, member of ICOM Germany ------------------------------ [Christian] [Mueller-Straten] [Researcher, Publisher, Art Historian] [Owner] [Verlag Dr. Christian Mueller-Straten] [Munich] [Germany] [0049-89-839 690 43] [https://www.museum-aktuell.de] https://www.museum-aktuell.de/CEO ------------------------------ 2.From: Christian Mueller-Straten Posted: Saturday August 1, 2026 1:22 PM Subject: RE: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books Message: Hi all, first of all, I want to mention that in all the articles I read on this topic nobody talked on "rare" books. All the booksellers mentioned books from all fields of science. I would be a totally different matter with rare books. A large part of them is usual printed matters and usually part of existing library collections. If not, blame the libraries. The AI companies buying them act as private owners. Legally, they are nothing else but private collectors, scholars, or another book dealer. Who cares worldwide what these private do with their books? Nobody. We accept their right to destroy them if they do not sell. These AI companies destroy them to scan them for a language training of AI (because written/printed scientific texts are/were different from oral language or posted ones) . The destruction of usual printed books seems to be no copyright infringement. The real legal question would be: What are these companies doing with these texts? Is this just language training or to make wrong answers look more scientific? Best Christian ------------------------------ [Christian] [Mueller-Straten] [Researcher, Publisher, Art Historian] [Owner] [Verlag Dr. Christian Mueller-Straten] [Munich] [Germany] [0049-89-839 690 43] [https://www.museum-aktuell.de] https://www.museum-aktuell.de/CEO ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 07-31-2026 11:04 From: Brian Castriota Subject: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books There's plenty of "actual evidence" they are being destroyed in unsealed court filings in the case against Anthropic. Have a search for "Project Panama" and Tom Turvey. https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/29/ai-firms-are-buying-up-old-books-then-scanning-and-destroying-them/ <https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/29/ai-firms-are-buying-up-old-books-then-scanning-and-destroying-them/> ------------------------------ Brian Castriota Lecturer in Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media University College London London United Kingdom ------------------------------ Original Message: Sent: 07-30-2026 12:25 From: Graham Marley Subject: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books It would be good to have actual evidence that the books are being destroyed rather than assuming they are. Depending on the type of binding, they could be scanned without damage. I'd be more concerned about their use without some sort of copyright if they are modern enough editions to have ISBN numbers. With regards Graham Marley ACR Briarwood Restoration Workshop Bepton Road Midhurst GU29 9HH 07703511453 01730 816180 www.justgiving.com/campaign/masterschallenge2026 <http://www.justgiving.com/campaign/masterschallenge2026> Original Message: Sent: 7/29/2026 9:42:00 AM From: Jean Dommermuth Subject: RE: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books Hi Saira, Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It's very disturbing, but I'm not sure what can be done. Physical libraries - public and personal- become ever more precious. 3.From: Simon Green Posted: Saturday August 1, 2026 1:22 PM Subject: RE: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books Message: I would be cautious about this. The suggested evidence is an article Saira read in Futurism based on gossip by a second hand book dealer who is selling lots of old books profitably to people he assumes are acting for AI companies. The other is more substantial from the Washington Post but that article is mainly linked to the much more serious (in my view) issue of copyright theft. All the books are said to have ISBNs (so post 1970),so not ancient and available in deposit and other libraries all over the world. A significant portion of modern books is pulped or otherwise destroyed when noone has a use for them. So it has always been. Some write about the words being lost but that is not the case - it is the physical book that is lost but apparently recently by pulping according to gossip. I confess to putting quite a lot of old books into the recycling stream along with newspapers and magazines but I have not scanned them first! I also give many to charity shops. I don't really think this is a matter for AIC but, if it is thought to be, then an initial step could be to write to Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic and ask him if they are buying old books and scanning them, what is their disposal policy for the books after scanning and whether the scanned books are available as a digital library. He may not answer because of the copyright issue but it might be a way to start conversation rather than a war. ------------------------------ Simon Barcham Green Maidstone ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 07-28-2026 10:08 From: Saira Haqqi Subject: AI companies reportedly destroying rare books I was disturbed to come across this article, "AI Companies Are Buying Antique Books, Ingesting Their Contents to Train Models, and Then Destroying Them at Incredible Scale <https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies-destroying-rare-books>." Per the article: One small book seller said that in April, he suddenly went from selling no more than 20 books a week to hundreds, and he's almost certain that the customers are AI labs, noting the random selection of the books and how they all have ISBNs. He added that his inventory is full with rare and out of print books, meaning that an AI company could be destroying some of the few remaining copies that can be found. This seems like something that cultural heritage organizations like ours should be aware of and potentially taking a stand against. Additionally, as people committed to the care and preservation of cultural heritage, I think it is important for us to take practices like this, as well as the obvious human and environmental costs, into account when contemplating the use of generative AI tools. Initially, I was going to suggest that this is something AIC could (should?) release a statement about -- however, I can't see that this would actually achieve anything. If anyone has ideas for how we could effectively organize around this, I would love to hear them. Best, Saira ------------------------------ Saira Haqqi (she/they) Senior Conservator National Archives and Records Administration College Park, MD [email protected] <[email protected]> ------------------------------ 4.From: Vania Janković Posted: Saturday August 1, 2026 1:22 PM Subject: Newly exposed underwater cultural heritage Message: Dear colleagues, My name is Vania, and I am currently pursuing a master's degree in Conservation and Restoration, with my thesis focusing on the preventive conservation of underwater archaeological sites. My research focuses on the development of preventive conservation strategies for submerged cultural heritage, with particular emphasis on freshwater environments. With this summer's drought causing exceptionally low water levels along the Danube and exposing archaeological remains that are normally submerged, I was interested to find out whether any organizations, research teams, or heritage authorities are currently carrying out documentation, stabilization, monitoring, or other conservation measures at these sites. I have seen reports of submerged World War II remains being exposed in Croatia and in Hungary due to the low water levels, which further made me wonder whether any discoveries along the Danube are being systematically recorded or protected. I would be very interested in learning about any ongoing projects, fieldwork, emergency interventions, or even planned initiatives related to the protection of this newly exposed underwater cultural heritage. If anyone has any information, publications, or contacts working in this area, I would greatly appreciate it. With thanks, Vania ------------------------------ Vania Janković Academy of Arts Novi Sad Serbia ------------------------------ You are subscribed to "Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList)" as [email protected]. To change your subscriptions, go to http://community.culturalheritage.org/preferences?section=Subscriptions. To unsubscribe from this community discussion, go to https://community.culturalheritage.org/HigherLogic/eGroups/Unsubscribe.aspx?UserKey=d16eaa87-0f69-494b-9f2f-303dbc1222e1&sKey=fab9aa4f27a04c5d876e&GroupKey=757a8f16-505f-4323-8e74-e376757aa9f7.
