Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

This paper introduces a new method for identifying museum pests through the analysis of DNA present in settled dust. Traditionally, the identification of pests in cultural institutions such as museums and depositories has relied on insect trapping (monitoring). They give good results but need time (minimum spring until summer of one year for a complete survey) and face challenges related to the identification of small, rare, or damaged species. Our study presents a non-invasive approach that utilizes metabarcoding analysis of dust samples to identify pests and other arthropods at the species level. We collected dust samples with a handheld vacuum cleaner in summer 2023 from the six different floors of the Natural History Museum in Vienna and compared the results with the insect monitoring. We found over 359 different species of arthropods in the museum and could show how the diversity increases with the elevation of the building floor. This method could be used for rapid and cost-effective screening of pests before monitoring. But the interpretation of results is sometimes difficult (for Lepismatidae, for example), and it cannot replace a continuous monitoring of pests with traps. This investigation might present the highest indoor animal biodiversity ever found in a single building.

A selection of Late Bronze Age glass objects from the site of Amarna (Egypt) was analysed for their overall chemical composition, colourants and transition metals associated with the sources of cobalt ore. The objects were analysed by means of Particle Induced X-Ray and Gamma-ray Emission and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry at the IBC, HZDR, Dresden and the New AGLAE facility, C2RMF, Paris. The data was subsequently compared with further measurements obtained by portable X-Ray Fluorescence (and by Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass-Spectrometry) in order to sound the potential of these non-destructive methods to obtain new insights into the production process of glass from Amarna and its provenancing.

Tapestries and especially pile carpets can be challenging objects for assessing their photosensitivity by microfading: they are often made of relatively thick yarns resulting in a non-flat airy surface. For this reason, focusing the light on the object’s surface is difficult and the precision of the colour change measurement is hampered. In this study, an improved test methodology was developed to overcome the difficulties by analysing single yarns. The methodology consists in flattening the yarn between glass microscope slides tightly held together by means of 4 strong paired neodymium magnets. The results show that the newly-developed sample preparation together with the required instrumental adjustment allow to significantly reduce the standard deviation and variation coefficient which often characterize microfading measurements of textiles. The methodology for sample preparation is evaluated and had been applied to samples from the Reformation Tapestry dating to 1667 from the collection of the Museum Europäischer Kulturen (Museum of European Cultures) in Berlin.

Article Alexander K. Gavrilov (Hg.), A Biographical Dictionary of St. Petersburg Classicists in the 19th – Early 20th Centuries, St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Institute for History, RAS) 2021 (Bibliotheca Classica Petropolitana), 1051 S., ISBN 978-5-4391-0715-5 was published on December 1, 2022 in the journal Klio (volume 104, issue 2).

Climate change not only affects the biodiversity of natural habitats, but also the flora and fauna within cities. An increase in average temperature and changing precipitation, but additionally extreme weather events with heat waves and flooding, are forecast. The climate in our cities and, thus, also inside buildings is influenced by the changing outdoor climate and urban heat islands. A further challenge to ecosystems is the introduction of new species (neobiota). If these species are pests, they can cause damage to stored products and materials. Much cultural heritage is within buildings, so changes in the indoor climate also affect pests (insect and fungi) within the museums, storage depositories, libraries, and historic properties. This paper reviews the literature and presents an overview of these complex interactions between the outdoor climate, indoor climate, and pests in museums. Recent studies have examined the direct impact of climate on buildings and collections. The warming of indoor climates and an increased frequency or intensity of extreme weather events are two important drivers affecting indoor pests such as insects and fungi, which can severely damage collections. Increases in activity and new species are found, e.g., the tropical grey silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudatum has been present in many museums in recent years benefitting from increased indoor temperatures.

Zusammenfassung Für die Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin investierte der Bund seit den 2000er Jahren enorme Summen, um dieser Institution wie auch den in ihr aufbewahrten Beständen von Weltgeltung eine sowohl architektonisch wie auch konservatorisch-technisch angemessene Unterbringung zu garantieren. Rund 100 Jahre Architektur- und Baugeschichte zeigen sich nun an dem größten historischen Gebäudekomplex des Berliner Zentrums am Boulevard Unter den Linden: Eröffnet im Jahr 1914, erlitt das Bibliotheksgebäude dreißig Jahre später durch Bombentreffer teils schwere Beschädigungen, welche in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, unter schwierigen technischen und ökonomischen Bedingungen, für einen Bibliotheksbetrieb nur teilweise beseitigt werden konnten. Dank der Wiedervereinigung der beiden deutschen Staaten eröffnete sich die Chance, für die 1661 gegründete Bibliothek wieder Rahmenbedingungen zu schaffen, die ihrer Bedeutung wie auch ihrer Leistungsfähigkeit entsprechen. Mit den architektonischen, technischen und planerischen Konzepten des beginnenden 21. Jahrhunderts wurde der Altbau des Gebäudes instandgesetzt und zugleich auf ein modernes technisches Niveau gehoben. Im gleichen Zuge konnte das Jahrzehnte zuvor verloren gegangene architektonische wie auch funktionale Zentrum des Bibliotheksgebäudes durch ein neues ersetzt werden.

<p>This Deliverable, D7.2, is part of Work Package 7 “Training and Engagement” which aims to expand the service portfolio and widen service coverage for new user communities. The new user communities include the fields of social sciences and humanities; built heritage; palaeontology and palaeoanthropology; and archaeology. These are widely varying and disparate groups, with different types of internal organisation and different degrees of coordination as well as different levels of engagement with scientific research. Here, we propose a plan for engagement with new communities. Some strategies are common to the four new user communities. This maximises effectiveness and impact, and minimises duplication. It will also allow us to easily extend our strategy to any further future new user groups. However, we recognise that the differences between the groups mean that we will need flexible strategies that take into account these dissimilarities. In all cases, we recognise the importance of two-way dialogue to seek the opinions of members of the user groups and the need to adjust IPERION HS’s offering to take account of the needs of the different groups.</p>\n\n<p>We propose to monitor engagement of members of the different groups as they request Trans-National Access and calculate Key Performance Indicators that will allow us to monitor the engagement of new user communities compared to more established users.</p>

This Deliverable, D7.2, is part of Work Package 7 “Training and Engagement” which aims to expand the service portfolio and widen service coverage for new user communities. The new user communities include the fields of social sciences and humanities; built heritage; palaeontology and palaeoanthropology; and archaeology. These are widely varying and disparate groups, with different types of internal organisation and different degrees of coordination as well as different levels of engagement with scientific research. Here, we propose a plan for engagement with new communities. Some strategies are common to the four new user communities. This maximises effectiveness and impact, and minimises duplication. It will also allow us to easily extend our strategy to any further future new user groups. However, we recognise that the differences between the groups mean that we will need flexible strategies that take into account these dissimilarities. In all cases, we recognise the importance of two-way dialogue to seek the opinions of members of the user groups and the need to adjust IPERION HS’s offering to take account of the needs of the different groups. We propose to monitor engagement of members of the different groups as they request Trans-National Access and calculate Key Performance Indicators that will allow us to monitor the engagement of new user communities compared to more established users.