MUSEUM SECURITY

Museum collections should, like every

other valuable objects should be
protected from loss or accidental
destruction.
This means devising security
arrangements in terms of theft,
disfigurement and fire.
Those against theft fall into two
categories:
those in operation while the building is
open to the public
and those while it is closed.

Security Bulls eye

Security plan for keeping artwork safe

1 Small and wireless, vibration sensors placed behind a painting can detect the lightest
fingertap. Multiple sensors can be customizedone as a backup, another to detect if someone
tries to access the painting through the wall. A tripped alarm signals the control room (or a cell
phone or pager), describes the problem, and can provide a map of the site and an electronic
photo of the piece of art.

2 Many priceless works have inventory numbers written on the canvas back and recorded in
a registrar's catalog. The catalogs keep data about a canvas's thread count, highly magnified
photographs of a painting's details and other proof of authenticity.

3 To hang a piece of art, eye hooks on the back of the frame attach to "L" hooks on the museum
wall. At the bottom center of the painting, a metal boiler plate screws into both the frame and the
wall. You'd have to work pretty hard to wrench the painting away.
In places where earthquakes can torque paintings affixed in such a way, museums use
interlocking connections that offer some give.

4 Glazing protects some paintings and is commonly used with objets d'art shown on pedestals.
But it is used judiciously since artists and scholars prefer as little interference as possible when
viewing the art. [ For example :non-glare glazing with static-free polycarbons can be used, but
these can't be used on some works (the ones with pastels, for instance) because it tends to
suck the chalk off the surface of the artwork.]

5 Environmental sensors for fire, temperature changes and other hazards can be used to
complement theft-deterrent sensors. These devices are even more common for items on
pedestals, but are used for paintings as well.

6 Around the edge of the room, a low rail or change in floor texture or height creates a
border to keep people from getting too close to the artwork.
Purely psychological -It forces a person to enter a different space that, implicitly, they're
not welcomed in."

7 Motion-detection devices beamed directly over the painting sound a chirping alarm
(like a smoke detector) to startle the too-close observer and alert security.

8 Saturation motion detection is the most important technology used in any given exhibit space.
Instead of focusing motion detection only on entrances and egresses, such as doors and air ducts,
it's most practical to simply flood the room with motion detection. That creates very few "dead
spots" for potential thieves to avoid sensors and helps deter "stay behinds": skulkers who come
into the room with a group but remain when others leave.
It is better to "overdesign": when any given person is touched by at least two motion detectors at
one time.[For example: Mixing infrared and microwave motion detectionsince infrared can cause
false alarms from heat, and microwave sometimes is triggered or disabled by the works of art
themselves, such as metallic sculptures.]

9 Closed-circuit TV cameras add another security layer beyond motion detection.

It is preferable to put in a digitally enhanced closed-circuit TV system that triggers automatically.
However, if funds are limited, cameras should go first at entry points, then in the galleries.
The more precious the art, the more likely the better it is to go in for anti-integration.
Anti-integration makes things difficult for thieves; it means they will have to break two systems
instead of one.

11 It is prudent to alarm windows and fasten them closed whenever possible.

Break sensors can be placed on the glass, especially lower-level windows. As with CCTV,
glass-break sensors are secondary to motion detection but still play a critical role, "not because it
tells us a window was broken but because it's independent of the security system during
'gray hours : those after-close periods when a large staff is hanging a new exhibit. At such
times, sectors of the building will have their security systems turned off.

12 Security guards should be on alert during gray hours and also be a constant presence in the
museum at all other hours. They must patrol briskly and pay as much attention to fire exits
as they do the art itself. They also communicate with the security control center,
which dispatches staff to suspicious situations.
Along with uniformed guards, a plainclothes supervisor would be appointed to see that the
security staff is managing the crisis properly.

In storage rooms :One method works by having a fan blow air into or out of the area
to be protected at a pre-determined pressure .A diaphragm elsewhere monitors the
difference between the inside and outside pressures. As soon as an entry is made the
pressure alters, the diaphragm reacts and the alarm is setoff.