This post is focused on two aspects of a situation that can add up to be quite a daunting and frustrating dilemma - the counting and packing of large numbers of small objects operating under the time and budget constraints that exist almost everywhere these days.
It is meant to illustrate a complimentary pair of techniques that can increase the integrity and effectiveness of the process while helping to minimize frustration.
The first method involves the mind numbing phenomenon of providing due diligence in terms of material count and condition reporting of very large groups of objects. The second has to do with a packing methodology that is simple, sound and sane for use under a wide array of circumstances.
The example illustrated here involves the counting and packing of pottery sherds in a large archeological move. In this case these individual pieces may or may not have the same catalog number and the pieces can represent hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of the individual pieces to be moved. Each must be accounted for and moved safely.
In this specific example the objects are pottery sherds but the combination of grids and wave packing could just as easily be used for coins or bottle caps - the issues and the solutions involved are the same.
Counting - Grids
Many of us have spent more than a little bit of time counting and then recounting groups of objects. It can be frustrating when your counts don’t match up and even more so when you call on someone else to count and theirs doesn’t match yours either!
A simple system for dead-on, error-free counting is the use of counting grids. Grids can be made in a number of ways but what it comes down to essentially is a system of counting that is visually based. When grids are partially full the rows and columns make for easy error free calculation.
The visual aspect of counting grids also marries well with the readily available digital technology of our times. In fact it documents these counts on several levels.
Counting grids can provide a digital document of not only the number of items to be moved but information that will indicate exactly which objects are included in the count. When dealing with dozens, hundred or even thousands of objects it is a good thing.
This grid consists of one hundred 3” x 3” squares (10 X 10) outlined with a permanent marker on ¼” Volara® placed in a 30” x 30” cardboard tray with 2” sides.
Grids can easily be made to proportions and counts that are appropriate to the collection you are dealing with.
Very small grids with high numbers can be utilized for use with collections than include things like very small objects such as beads.
Collections with typically larger pieces can be made in different configurations to match the objects being dealt with.
Below find a 3” - 5 x 5 grid.
With one digital image we verify the count of this catalog number and also identify and provide approximate measurments for the individual pieces included in the group.
By flipping the pieces in their squares we can include important information found on the verso.
Utilizing a reasonably high quality image (it takes no more time to click a shutter with a good camera than a mediocre one) important condition reporting information is included in an instant. In this case that means that 2 images are fulfilling the function of 38 while both sides of each object remain clearly visually associated.
With the use of a common copy stand and basic lighting equipment, consistently high quality documentation can be achieved by individuals with minimal training, freeing up more specialized staff to do the work that requires a higher level of experience.
PACKING - THE "WAVE"
Often in the case of archeological or ethnographic collections moves the initial group of objects may originate as loose bags of material. Once you have identified and isolated all of the components included, does it really make sense to turn around and throw them back together in the old (or maybe a new) bag? This is especially true if your due diligence obligations mandate that they must be removed and counted on the other end of the move process anyway.
Creating a condition where pieces can rub together during transit is not a desirable choice. Shipping sherds in the same bag maybe an acceptable convention in some archeological circles but generally speaking it is not something a museum professional or professional packer is going to be comfortable with. On the other hand the time and resources required to wrap and pack this kind of material piece by piece individually is beyond what many institutions can muster.
This is the kind of situation where the "wave" provides a excellent middle ground.
Cut-away Illustration - Simple isolation of objects is facilitated just by their placement relative to each other. Packing really doesn't really get much simpler than that.
When the protection of a group of objects requires only a simple level of isolation (keeping them from rubbing up against each other or the packing container) this is an established method to consider.
This straightforward method was named and described by Dennis Piechota - objects and textile conservator who, with his wife, Jane Drake Piechota, consults for museums on environmental conditions, and the movement of museum collections, as well as providing collections treatment.
The method called the wave has been utilized before but its most extensive and widely known application was during the relocation of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of the American Indian 800k plus collection in the early 2000s (completed in 2004). Even before the move was completed the method was being adapted for use in a wide variety of other move projects.
Deceptively simple – it consists of continuous rolls of bubble wrap folded over itself vertically inside of cardboard boxes to create “waves” and the troughs into which objects are deposited – it has achieved a high level of success when applied appropriately.
It offers a number of advantages over the “traditional” mummy-wrapping of objects. The greatest advantage from my perspective is the superior object visibility that results during unpacking. Increased visibility equals safer handling because you can see what it is that you are dealing with.
When you come to the end of one object group, the "waves" that contain them can be taped together - preferably with the associated label,barcode or RFID - to help facilitate unpacking.
After the troughs between the waves have all been filled with objects and any extra space at the end of the box filled with "empty waves" for stability, the top of the "waves" are folded over and the same strip of bubble material is then laid down over the top of the package to fill the void and "snug-in" the contents.
Packing with the "standard" method that most of us were trained in involved wrapping each object often with tissue and then sometimes with plastic and then usually with bubble. Each layer required some additional taping and/or handling. These amorphous blobs were usually then placed within a box which required still more fill material to restrict movement.
The Wave method of packing objects by the box results in one entire layer of handling being avoided on each end of the process. More importantly it avoids handling objects where the object itself is not visible so that its condition and needs cannot be evaluated until it has already been handled and unwrapped.
As well as offering safer packing and unpacking, the speed and simplicity of the process using this system offers a real and obvious advantage.
Since the waves do not acquire a fixed form like a contour pack or need to be cut like more common packing methods, re-use of materials is simplified making it one of the "greener" packing methods currently in use especially if it is part of cyclical packing and unpacking process.
In situations where there are concerns about direct contact of bubble to objects, or where the bubble will be reused mulitiple times, or where surfaces are particularly friable - the addition of HDPE - High Density Polyethylene in a thickness of of .35 mil or thinner is a natural combination.
This very thin and inexpensive form of Polyethylene allows the system to function as intended while providing an additional level of protection.
Hopfully more information and illustrations in the near future will come courtesy of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of the American Indian.
In the mean time be sure to check out videos from their collections move (link below).
They may take a while to load so be patient!
http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?s...ons&third=move
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