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Museum Technicians and Conservators - 25-4013.00

O*NET-SOC Description

Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators.

Sample of Reported Job Titles

Art Preparator
Conservation Technician
Conservator
Exhibit Technician
Museum Registrar

Museum Technician
Objects Conservator
Paintings Conservator
Paper Conservator
Preparator

SOC Occupation Groups

25-0000	Educational Instruction and Library Occupations
25-4000	Librarians, Curators, and Archivists
25-4010	Archivists, Curators, and Museum Technicians
25-4013.00	Museum Technicians and Conservators

Related Occupations

19-3093.00	Historians Bright Outlook
19-4031.00	Chemical Technicians
19-4071.00	Forest and Conservation Technicians
25-1194.00	Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary
25-4011.00	Archivists
25-4012.00	Curators
25-4022.00	Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
27-1012.00	Craft Artists
27-1013.00	Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
27-1027.00	Set and Exhibit Designers

Tasks

Build, repair, and install wooden steps, scaffolds, and walkways to gain access to or permit improved view of exhibited equipment.
Classify and assign registration numbers to artifacts and supervise inventory control.
Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.
Coordinate exhibit installations, assisting with design, constructing displays, dioramas, display cases, and models, and ensuring the availability of necessary materials.
Deliver artwork on courier trips.
Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.
Direct and supervise curatorial, technical, and student staff in the handling, mounting, care, and storage of art objects.
Enter information about museum collections into computer databases.
Estimate cost of restoration work.
Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
Lead tours and teach educational courses to students and the general public.
Notify superior when restoration of artifacts requires outside experts.
Perform on-site field work which may involve interviewing people, inspecting and identifying artifacts, note-taking, viewing sites and collections, and repainting exhibition spaces.
Perform tests and examinations to establish storage and conservation requirements, policies, and procedures.
Photograph objects for documentation.
Plan and conduct research to develop and improve methods of restoring and preserving specimens.
Prepare artifacts for storage and shipping.
Prepare reports on the operation of conservation laboratories, documenting the condition of artifacts, treatment options, and the methods of preservation and repair used.
Preserve or direct preservation of objects, using plaster, resin, sealants, hardeners, and shellac.
Recommend preservation procedures, such as control of temperature and humidity, to curatorial and building staff.
Repair, restore, and reassemble artifacts, designing and fabricating missing or broken parts, to restore them to their original appearance and prevent deterioration.
Specialize in particular materials or types of object, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural materials.
Study object documentation or conduct standard chemical and physical tests to ascertain the object's age, composition, original appearance, need for treatment or restoration, and appropriate preservation method.
Supervise and work with volunteers.