The vast collections of fragile art objects and artifacts held by museums in moderate and high seismic risk regions of the country are vulnerable to damage or destruction should a significant earthquake occur. The museum community is beginning to address the problem of seismic protection of fragile artifacts on exhibit and in shortage. There are very few publications that provide guidance to museum professionals that take into consideration the special requirements for dealing with seismic risks. Research work has been completed to identify existing protection methods and to develop new and improved methods that meet the criteria of the museum community for protection from seismic events. Work was done to determine the advantages, disadvantages, relative effectiveness, and limitations of the different protection methods. This research project will complete research necessary to establish guidelines for protecting museum artifacts from earthquake damage and prepare documentation that can be used for a guide useful to the museum community. Methods will be developed and tested that protect artifacts on display and in storage from earthquake damage. Dissemination of the research results will be done in cooperation with the user community. An award is recommended for this one year complete research project. The principal investigator is highly qualified to conduct the research and the institution provides excellent support facilities.
