Agnes W. Brokerhof
Studies into the deterioration of materials due to interaction with their surroundings can provide insight into the mechanisms and rates of decay and lead to the development of solutions for conservation problems. The ultimate application of our understanding seems to be the definition of guidelines and standards, but the direction of collection risk management is a much more interesting way to use the outcome of our research. The need for data to predict future change in material confronts us with deficiencies in knowledge in the areas of statistics on probability of catastrophes, incident frequencies, rates of decay, the severity of the consequence or dose-effect relationships, and sustainable solutions. These are the areas in which collection risk management tells us to focus our research efforts. Does that make sense?