Defensible Collections: Designing a Safe Exhibit Space

A startling number of conservators tell stories about mistreatment of collection material by the public. We used to hear a familiar type of problem: vitrines marred by strollers, glass broken by resting parents, or a pencil falling out of a pocket onto a background. Now, the story is more dramatic: French fries deposited on remote surfaces of large dinosaur specimens. Is an exhibit successful if attendance contributes to the damage of delicate material? This paper provides a broad overview of the risk to exhibited collection material imposed by visitors. Patterns of damage to collections correspond to specific characteristics of the exhibit spaces themselves. This investigation looks at problems encountered at one large paleontology exhibit and overlays successful concepts drawn from sources outside the museum world.