Protecting Historic Architecture and Museum Collections from Natural Disasters


Book Description

Protecting Historic Architecture and Museum Collections from Natural Disasters serves as a useful guide for professionals engaged in the preservation of cultural heritage, whether structures or artifacts. This book discusses how to prevent losses to the cultural heritage of structures and artifacts through more knowledgeable protection, prevention, and emergency response. Organized into six sections encompassing 26 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the mechanisms for preserving and protecting the heritage. This text then examines the threats of destruction by the natural elements such as decay, air pollution, subsidence, and other forms of attrition. Other chapters consider the social functional and economic values of the buildings and museum objects. This book discusses as well the natural disaster policies within a society. The final chapter deals with the enlistment of the private sector in dealing with catastrophes rising out of fire, earthquake, flood, and other natural disasters. This book is a valuable resource for conservation specialists, archivists, private collectors, dealers, curators, and librarians.




Care of Collections


Book Description

Confronting contemporary issues in museum practice, this collection provides a practical guide to all aspects of collections care. Contributors cover a wide range of issues including: conservation practice the monitoring and control of light relative humidity and atmospheric pollution packing, handling and transportation of collections storage and access to collections biological infestation disaster planning. Including material and sources that have, up until now, not easily been available, students of museum studies and proffessionals within the industry now have this invaluable aid to their work.




Routledge Handbook on Cultural Heritage and Disaster Risk Management


Book Description

This Handbook provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary overview of the intersections between cultural heritage and disaster risks. It serves as a defining reference, presenting the key concepts and policy arena that disaster risk management and cultural heritage currently operate. With 22 contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in the field, chapters explore the various contexts for cultural heritage and disaster risk management, illustrated through case studies from around the world. The Handbook is organised into 4 parts: Part 1 includes Disaster Risk Management and Cultural Heritage, Part 2 helps to Understanding the context, Part 3 focuses on the challenges and Part 4 delves deep into the future prospects. This Handbook provides insights a wide range of topics and themes, such as climate change, conflict, urbanisation, the role of community, and examines the relationships with a range of sectors such as governance and policy, finance, infrastructure, shelter, and urban planning. It also presents critiques on issues that are often taken for granted, including technocratic approaches, nature/culture binary, the romanticisation of traditional knowledges and the role of recovery and reconstruction. Insights into the future are also presented, and the Handbook concludes with a detailed agenda of proposed action to be taken in the field. Offering critical reflections on the topic, this book caters to students, researchers, professionals, and policy makers in the fields of disaster studies, cultural studies, heritage studies, conservation and geography.




Hurricane Hugo, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Charleston, South Carolina, September 17-22, 1989


Book Description

This volume provides an account of the 1989 Hurricane Hugo for historical purposes, evaluates the physical phenomena involved and the performance of structures and systems, and identifies and recommends cases where an in-depth study would improve our ability to analyze and forecast such failures.




Museum Handbook


Book Description




Planning and Engineering Guidelines for the Seismic Retrofitting of Historic Adobe Structures


Book Description

Adobe, or mud brick, has been widely used as a building material in the American Southwest, including California. The vulnerability of many original adobe structures to damage or destruction from earthquakes has been of great concern. The guidelines presented here address the practical aspects of this problem and represent the culmination of 12 years of research and testing on the seismic retrofitting of adobe buildings. These guidelines can assist in the planning of seismic retrofitting projects consistent with both conservation principles and established public policy.




Introduction to Museology


Book Description




Guidelines for Design of Low-Rise Buildings Subjected to Lateral Forces


Book Description

Guidelines for Design of Low-Rise Buildings Subjected to Lateral Forces is a concise guide that identifies performance issues, concerns, and research needs associated with low-rise buildings. The book begins with an introduction that discusses special problems with low-rise buildings subjected to wind and earthquakes. Chapter 2 examines probabilistic methods and their use in evaluating risks from natural hazards. It also addresses the characteristics of wind and seismic forces and levels of risk implied by building codes. Wind forces are covered in more detail in Chapter 3, with discussions of wind force concepts and wind-structure interactions. Chapter 4 is devoted to earthquake forces and traces the development of building codes for earthquake resistant design. Chapter 5 describes the main framing systems used to resist lateral forces and discusses the code requirements for drift control. The designs and requirements for connections between building elements are addressed in Chapter 6. It includes examples along with several illustrations of suitable connections. The performance of non-structural elements during wind and earthquake forces is also examined in detail. This book serves as an important reference for civil engineers, construction engineers, architects, and anyone concerned with structural codes and standards. It is an excellent guide that can be used to supplement design recommendations and provide a design basis where there are no current requirements.




Between Two Earthquakes


Book Description

This handbook addresses three areas of concern for the museum administrator concerning the protection of historic buildings, monuments, and archaeological sites located in seismic areas. It proposes pre-disaster measures such as taking accurate and complete documentation (photogrammetry is discussed in one of the 13 appendixes), risk awareness, planning, maintenance and inspections, etc. Second, when an earthquake strikes, the immediate emergency steps necessary to protect life and property are indicated; and after the earthquake, the strengthening of valuable cultural property (based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, also in an appendix) should be included in the general program of prevention maintenance along with the repairs discussed in detail applicable to each architectural element, and to the site as a whole.




Libraries and Archives


Book Description

New in paperback! This book fills a need for a selective bibliography focusing on design that will not only house collections appropriately, but also be comfortable for readers and staff. The books and articles cited here provoke thought about new technologies and materials and will enable information professionals to feel comfortable when they communicate with the various other professionals involved in the actual work of construction or renovation. Contents: Part One: The Design of Libraries and the Preservation of Books—A Summary History. Part Two: A Guide to the Literature, with chapters on planning, design, the interior, the environment, safety, and preservation. Appendixes include case studies, bibliographies of bibliographies and of journals, and a directory of organizations. With index. Cloth version previously published in 1991.