Risk Management

Futurist Friday: Sea-Level Report Cards

By Elizabeth Merritt

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) launched a project to create “report cards” projecting sea-level rise in 32 US localities through the year 2050. They plan to update the report cards every year in January. …
Futurist Friday: The Water Next Time

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’m capping risk management week here on the Blog a visceral reminder of how flooding can catch museums unawares. (If you missed them, make sure to read Tuesday’s post on how the historic preservation community is responding …
Never Underestimate the Power of Preparation!

By Elizabeth Merritt

Never Underestimate the Power of Preparation! Earlier this week, the Blog featured a post by Sarah Sutton about a recent conference addressing the preservation challenges of rising sea levels. However, climate change is altering the …
Unwanted Water

By Elizabeth Merritt

According to the Floodsmart.gov website, coastal areas of the US account for more than half of the nation’s population and housing. This pattern is reflected the distribution of American museums as well. This being so, the rising sea …
Keeping History Above Water

By Elizabeth Merritt

One of the themes we explored in TrendsWatch2015 was how rising sea levels and increased storm frequency are threatening museums and heritage sites. Over the past year we’ve invited guest authors from museums with a vested interest …
Designing for Resilience

By Elizabeth Merritt

One of the themes CFM focuses on in TrendsWatch 2015 is the changing climate of risk facing museums. Fully a quarter of museums & related organizations in the IMLS MUDF database are located in coastal areas with high vulnerability …
Futurist Friday: The Flood Next Time

By Elizabeth Merritt

Bjarke Ingels BIG architects in Copenhagen, won a federal competition to design storm protection for New York City. In this article he speaks about how his work in geoengineering is inspired by science fiction–specifically Kim …
Monday Musing: TrendsWatch Watch

By Elizabeth Merritt

Here’s a quick roundup of recent stories related to the themes in TrendsWatch 2015 (Haven’t got your copy yet? Download the free PDF here. Print copies will be available in the AAM Bookstore soon.) Open Data Here’s a story I featured in …
Security Lessons: What can we learn from the Rotterdam Heist?

By Tom Klobe

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2013 edition of Museum magazine. In the early morning hours of October 16, 2012, two unidentified thieves broke into the Rotterdam Kunsthal Museum through a back emergency exit door. They …
Crack Warp Shrink Flake: A New Look At Conservation Standards

By Pamela Hatchfield

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2011 edition of Museum magazine. In the high humidity of summer, bronzes erupt with powdery green corrosion and paper becomes speckled with mold. Droplets of liquid form on glass or …