Why do our visitors come back? Often, because we have “something new.” But not every kind of “new” works this way. A whole new temporary exhibition can be an event. A single rotated object might be “new,” but not in the same way. …

Many of us assume that if a museum display case has a tray of silica gel, the case's humidity will remain permanently in a stable range. This is not true. 99.99% of display cases are not sealed. And they usually shouldn’t be. In fact …

Climate conditioning for display cases is confusing. One confusing part is what we call the stuff we condition with. Despite what we hear, it’s almost never “desiccant.” A desiccant is a drying agent used to remove moisture from air. …