Post Tagged with: "conservation"

How to protect and salvage your flood damaged treasures

How to protect and salvage your flood damaged treasures

October 21, 2022

Collection Care:

Floodwaters in Victoria have caused significant damage to personal possessions and cultural heritage collections. Learn how to protect your treasures and salvage flood-damaged collections.

Bushfires: protecting your treasures

Bushfires: protecting your treasures

December 22, 2020

Collection Care, Conservation, Preservation:

It’s bushfire season again. How can you reduce the risk of loss of treasured objects before a disaster and what sort of salvage strategies can you use to recover them? If you live in an area where bushfire is an all too real possibility, it’s never too soon to start planning for their preservation.

Constitution Hill at

Conservation rejuvenates ‘Constitution Hill at Sun set’

December 15, 2020

Collection Care, Conservation:

During the Library closure, Collection Care had the opportunity of attending to the conservation treatment of one of the Library’s iconic paintings, Constitution Hill by colonial artist John Glover. Recent conservation treatment has transformed its appearance and inspired a new appreciation of this important work.

Detail of Blinky Bill and Mrs Koala, Dorothy Wall, [between 1933 and 1940?]; H2015.180/28

Blinky Bill: in the Conservation Lab

October 9, 2020

Collection Care, Conservation:

Blinky Bill has been a favourite amongst Australian children since he first made an appearance in the 1933 book Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian. A collection of drawings by author and illustrator Dorothy Wall (1894–1942) were recently acquired by the Library – several of which have come to the Conservation Lab for assessment and treatment.

Perfecting the lighting of a series of exhibition prints during installation

The changing face of Victoria: behind-the-scenes with Conservation

August 6, 2020

Collection Care, Conservation, Registration and loans:

The Conservation department play a major role in the development of exhibitions at the Library. We recently completed work on the installation of the Changing Face of Victoria exhibition, which this year involved preparing over 150 items for display.

Collection Care from home

Collection Care from home

May 26, 2020

Collection Care, Conservation, Our stories, Preservation, Preventive conservation:

The majority of the work undertaken by Collection Care staff requires physical access to the collections. The recent Library closure as a result of COVID-19 has meant staff are unable to access studios and labs for the time being, prompting a re-imagining of how they normally approach their roles.

A hidden treasure, no more: Conservation treatment of ‘View of the north shore’

A hidden treasure, no more: Conservation treatment of ‘View of the north shore’

April 18, 2019

Collection Care, Conservation, Our stories:

Conservation treatment has returned strength and aesthetic unity to this vibrant watercolour, allowing this important artwork to be appreciated by the public once more.

Women in science at the Library

Women in science at the Library

February 11, 2019

Collection Care, Conservation, Our stories:

Believe it or not, science is a vital part of the State Library’s day-to-day operations. In the Library’s Preservation and Conservation department we celebrate 16 brilliant women of science.

Australia’s golden age of cycling

Australia’s golden age of cycling

July 20, 2018

Exhibitions, Our stories, People & professions:

Cheering echoed throughout the streets of Sydney in November 1937 as some 60,000 people gathered along the last 80 kilometres of Hubert Opperman’s epic trans-continental ride. Once as famous as cricketer Don Bradman, endurance cyclist ‘Oppy’ is currently featured in the Changing face of Victoria exhibition. Discover objects from his career, loaned to us by Museums Victoria.

An illuminated Qur’an from the Michael Abbott Collection of Southeast Asian Islamic Manuscripts. Photograph: Emily Keppel

Islamic Bookbinding

November 23, 2017

Collection Care, Conservation, Our stories, Preservation:

While the Western tradition of bookbinding is well represented in the State Library Victoria (SLV) collection, the Library also holds a small but fascinating assortment of manuscripts produced in the Islamic world. A clear understanding of the different materials and structures used in the production of Islamic manuscripts is essential for the Library’s Book Conservators to make informed decisions regarding appropriate methods for preservation, repair and display.