O laboratório de conservação e restauro como condição necessária à finalidade institucional em arquivos públicos

Abstract

Aiming to set forth the reasons for which public archives should implement conservation and restoration laboratories, first it presents the ultimate purpose of any archival institution and the functions which are essential for achieving it, among which is the conservation of the collection; then it introduces the dimensions in which any technically rigorous study of documents conservation and restoration, from the perspective of Conservation Science, as well as the practical advantages of the existence of such a lab. The thesis is centered on the idea that conservation is only done responsibly when a deep and accurate diagnosis is present, which is achieved by making use of the proper analytical tools, in order to prevent or solve problems of chemical and/or biological orders in a scientific perspective, not in an artistic one.