Understanding the Indoor Climate in Museums, Galleries and Archives

Knowledge

On completion of this course it is expected that students will be able to:

• Describe the nature of environmental agents and their impact on museum collections
• Explain the mechanism by which an agent of deterioration causes harm to museum objects

Skills

On completion of this course it is expected that students will be able to:

• Identify environmental sources of potential damage within the museum environment
• Use basic environmental monitoring equipment typically owned by museums
• Analyse and interpret basic environmental data
• Select theoretically appropriate climatic conditions for the safe storage and display of cultural objects

General competence:

• Execute and report on simple experiments

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

The course consists of 11 modules presented in the learning platform Canvas. It is expected that the student works independently though the content before each seminar. The online course material introduces the theory in easy accessible language and refers to appropriate texts from the reading list by means of links at relevant places. In addition, the learning content is interspersed with short questions to test the students understanding. The in class seminars (11) spend time on answering student questions, clarifying difficult issues and working on the assignments for the qualifier. Students are expected to write questions to the lecturer in Canvas, before the seminar. Besides the lecture based seminars the course has 5 practical seminars, one for each environmental agent.

The qualifier consist of two parts:

Part 1:

During the course students have to submit 5 short obligatory assignments. Each assignment consists of 10 questions concerning defining, calculating and monitoring relative humidity, temperature, light and pollution levels in museums, galleries and archives.

The question sheets will be published in Canvas. In order to pass the assignment, the student needs to demonstrate that he/she has attempted to answer all questions. Filled out sheets are submitted in Canvas in the dedicated hand-in files. Questions will be discussed in the seminars and the answers posted in Canvas. Dates for submission will be published in Canvas.

Part 2:

Students are divided in groups and execute a series of small mainly home experiments on specific material samples. The samples and exercises will be handed out in the first seminar. The results of the home experiment will be written up in a PowerPoint and presented at a mini conference in class. Assignment is approved by the student showing active participation.

Both assignments need to be approved in order for the student to sit the exam. Notification of passing is given in Canvas. Once the course requirements have been fulfilled, they remain valid for the current and the two consecutive semesters when the course is given.

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

The exam consists of two parts:

Part 1:

1 hour exam in Inspera consisting of 20 short questions similar to those of the obligatory assignment. Counts 40% towards the final grade.

Part 2:

Term paper.

The assignment will be handed out at the start of the course. The grade will count 60% towards the final grade.

The exam is held every other year, the same year as the the course is held.

• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Resitting an examination

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Specific criteria for grading