2010 PTT Board Report

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Draft Agenda

Spring ‘10 Meeting

Preservation Technology and Training Board

National Park Service

Draft Agenda

NCPTT Headquarters

Lee H. Nelson Hall

Natchitoches, LA

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

2:00 PM Friends of NCPTT Board Meeting at Nelson Hall

PTT Board arrives in Natchitoches throughout day

6:30 PM DINNER – Dutch treat dinner at Cane River Bar & Grill,

1125 Washington Street, for Friends and PTT Board

Thursday, April 15, 2010: Conference Room, Nelson Hall

8:30 AM CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

9:00 AM Call to Order, Welcome, Introduction of Guests, Opening Remarks,

Certification of Meeting, Agenda, Logistics, Approval of Minutes

Judy Bense, Chair

Robert Sutton, Designated Federal Official (DFO)

Kirk Cordell, Executive Director

9:15 AM State of the National Center

Mr. Cordell

10:15 AM NPS National Report: Program and Budget Outlook

Dr. Sutton
Jon Smith, Asst Associate Director, Cultural Resources

10:45 AM BREAK – catered

11:00 AM Partners Report

Randy Webb, President, Northwestern State University (invited)

Steve Horton, VP & Dean, Northwestern State University

Laura Gates, Superintendent, Cane River Creole NHP

Cynthia Sutton, Executive Director, Cane River NHA

Michael Schuller, APT Liaison

11:45 AM Board Operations: Meeting Dates, Election of Officers

Dr. Bense

Mr. Cordell

12:00 PM LUNCH – catered in the Great Hall

1:00 PM Mobile Apps: Current and Future Projects

Sean Clifford, Web Developer

Debbie Smith, Historic Landscapes Chief

1:45 PM Laboratory Analytical Tools: Acquisitions and Needs

Frank Preusser, PTT Board

Mary Striegel, Materials Research Chief

2:30 PM Sustainability and Preservation Initiative

Robert Silman, PTT Board

Andy Ferrell, Architecture & Engineering Chief

3:15 PM BREAK – catered

3:30 PM Building the Friends Group: Report From the Friends Board

Norman Koonce, PTT Board

Mr. Cordell

4:15 PM Preservation Certificate Programs: SECAC model

Roy Graham, PTT Board

Mr. Ferrell

5:00 PM Adjourn

6:00 PM DRINKS – Fort St. Jean Baptiste, 155 Rue Jefferson

7:00 PM DINNER – catered at Prudhomme-Rouquier House, 446 Rue Jefferson

(NCPTT Staff, Partners, Board Members, Spouses Invited)

Friday, April 16, 2010: Conference Room, Nelson Hall

8:30 AM CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST – in conference room

9:00 AM NCPTT’s Research & Training Agenda: New Priorities?

Norman Weiss, PTT Board

Mr. Ferrell

Mrs. Smith

Dr. Striegel

10:00 AM CRADAs, Patents and New Inventions

Dr. Striegel

Curtis Desselles, Resident Inventor

10:45 AM BREAK – catered

11:00 AM Videos, Podcasts: Highlights of the Last Year

Jason Church, Materials Conservator

Mrs. Smith

11:30 AM Preservapedia: Heritage Conservation Wiki

Ed Fitzgerald, Intern

Mr. Ferrell

12:00 PM LUNCH – catered in the Great Hall, Nelson Hall

1:30 PM Depart NCPTT for Hodges Garden

2:30 PM Hodges Garden State Park, Florien, LA

Staff Tour of Rehabilitated Landscape

5:00 PM Depart Hodges Garden for Natchitoches

6:00 PM Arrive Natchitoches

DINNER — on your own in Natchitoches (see Restaurant Guide & Map)

Saturday, April 18, 2010

Safe Return Home

Please sign your travel vouchers before you leave so we can reimburse you more quickly!

Board Minutes from 2009

National Center for Preservation Technology and Training
National Park Service

Lee H. Nelson Hall

May 29, 2009

Minutes
Preservation Technology and Training Board

Attendees:

Judy Bense Andy Ferrell
Bob Sutton Kevin Ammons
Frank Preusser David Morgan
Horace Foxall Jeff Guin
Jim Garrison Kirk Cordell
Norman Weiss Sean Clifford
Norman Koonce Cynthia Sutton
Bethany Frank

Via Conference Call:
Jan Matthews
Jon Smith
Roy Graham
Bob Silman

• Judy Bense calls meeting to order at 9:00 AM on May 29, 2009.
• Introductions
• Charter for the Board has not yet been signed. The board meeting has been advertised in the Federal Register and is in compliance with FACA rules. Changes to the charter have created some glitches, which were to be resolved by today. Until the charter is resolved, no official actions can be taken. We have a quorum of the board once the charter issue is resolved. Recommendations can be considered with a later vote. We value the board’s advice.
• Spring 2008 Minutes: After a brief discussion, it was reiterated that due to unforeseen circumstances, this board meeting would be “unofficial,” and therefore there was no vote to approve the previous meeting’s minutes.
• Bob Silman wanted to join us by phone, but a meeting with Smithsonian caused a conflict. Asked that the schedule be re-arranged so he could present later in the day.
• Lunch will be at the Center; dinner will be at Oakland Plantation.

Bob Sutton: State of the Park Service at the National Level

• $5.9 billion in tax act credits for historic preservation/rehabilitation. Numbers managed to increase despite the recession.
• 80th Tribal Preservation office has been approved; this represents a doubling of THPO’s in the past four years.
• $70 million for preservation grants projects. $2.8 dollars for every federal dollar
• Congress created 9 additional Heritage Areas bringing the number to 49. This also almost doubles.
• In the next five years, 70 percent of park service personnel will be eligible to retire.

National Academy of Public Administration:

• NAPA Study – 30 parks added. Almost all are cultural or historical, but CR staffing nationwide declined by 29 percent. CR staff has many more reporting requirements. Staffs that are being hired are not permanent, but term or temporary positions. Losing institutional memory.
• Looked at historic structures $1.9 billion in backlog for maintaining historic structures. This estimate is quite low. Condition assessment is good, 54 percent good, 46 percent fair or poor condition of historic structure. Of 500,000 to 2.5 million in archeological sites, about two percent are surveyed.
• 125,000,000 artifacts under NPS care, which is as many as the Smithsonian. About half of the artifacts are cataloged and backlog is being reduced.
• Congress has been encouraged to increase budget to cultural resources. Looking to the Natural Resource Challenge as a model.
• CESU’s cooperative ecosystem study units – used for advancing research in natural research and can be used by cultural resource program.
• Need to reduce backlog on maintenance. NCPTT will have a key role in sustainability issues within the cultural resource challenge.
• The Organic Act of 1916 says that resources should be unimpaired.
• New nationwide programmatic agreement between NPS and the SHPO’s. Main focus is the addition of THPO’s and the expedition of SEC 106 review.
• Weiss questions CESU’s and whether this may hurt numbers of permanent staff in NPS.
• Sutton indicates that we in NPS are not to do original research with NPS. Sutton indicates that every federal dollar results in $32 in actual research.
• Weiss – is this an NPS image that natural resources are seen as more important than cultural resources?
• Sutton – professionals in natural resources are up in the park service. Cultural resources is declining. NR disciplines are in the NSEU’s. Under NR challenges subunits were set up. Parks in that cluster work together on specific issues.
• In the southwest Vanishing Treasures cluster: Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, able to hire staff to focus on regional issues.
• Cordell: NR challenge brought big players together and went to congress indicating that NPS needs to advance knowledge in NPS on NR (natural resources.) Cultural resources need to bring big partners to the table. Big part of CR is inventory and monitoring.
• Weiss: Should NCPTT be catalyst in bringing national and regional CR leaders to the table?’
• Sutton: That would be great.
• Weiss: Needs to help understand how this will impact NCPTT staff workload.

Kirk Cordell – State of NCPTT

• Busy and active year
• Move to one Board Meeting a year do we need additional contact with the board? When and where for annual meeting? What is the best time for the board?
• Working with flat budgets and found ways to bring in additional funds to increase program levels.

Project Highlights:

• Social Media and new website more effective
• Expanded sustainability of cultural heritage
• Created new course on environmental adaptations of historic buildings
• Held first LEED training last week
• Expanding NDE research; NDE course in Charleston with APT, second course in Frederick, MD with APT, NPS, HPTC
• NDE Symposium at ASNT eddy currents at AIC Prospection in Depth with Presidio
• Friends Group: Cordell receives training. Group is incorporated and 501c3 status is approved.

Integration with NPS:

• Joint project with HPTC at Congressional cemetery
• Hosted & presented at the NPS PAST program
• Continued to present through NPSTEL program
• Hosted 19th annual geophysics prospection course at the Center and at Los Adaes
• NPS AFS Training course held at the Center
• Prospection in Depth with Presidion Trust
• Working with Denver service center, CARI and the Center for Collections Conservation Center
• NPS Fundamentals Courses including training at Grand Canyon
• Second Century Commission – Senator Howard Baker and Senator Bennett Johnston co-chair the commission. NCPTT has provided assistance as requested.

Partnerships:

• US/ICOMOS – conference planners for New Orleans meeting.
• Remote Site Surveillance Meeting at NCTC.
• Pocantico Conference on sustainability & historic preservation
• U of Florida Historic Preservation series of lectures & St. Augustine.
• CMC New London
• Cemetery Landscape Preservation in American Cemetery and in Brookline MA

Preserve America:

• NCPTT clearinghouse but no additional federal funding. This has hampered progress we are doing what we can without additional resources.
• Increase our convening functions, remote surveillance, and cemetery preservation.

• Weiss: Broader NPS issues – suddenly stimulus package funds. Planned projects are now being pushed forward.
• Sutton: NPS $750 million in recovery funds. Money for historic structures is forthcoming. PMS line item construction projects which are ranked by priority. Drawback: Historic structures must compete with other construction projects. Cannot say how much will go to historic structures.
• NCPTT has only two projects in the PMIS queue: one for replacement of the air conditioning system in Lee Nelson Hall and one for the Collections Conservation Center.
• Foxall: National Park brings projects forward without SEC 106 consultation and CR design. Unfortunately, NCPTT is not part of internal programs and does not have a role in these decisions.
• Sutton and Foxall discuss the Design Administration Board (DAB). Dollars for NCPTTT through partnership with NPS units – is NCPTT visible within the park. Sutton will rely on NCPTT for the LEED component of the cultural resource challenge.
• Visibility – inside NPS morning report an opportunity daily to put out our information.
• Weiss: Forts on the east coast – will they know to come to NCPTT?

NCPTT Budget:

• Oct. 1, 2009 through March 2009 on continuing resolution our funding advice for the year arrived yesterday. We have a flat budget with rising personnel cuts. We took a 20% budget in travel and expect another 20 percent budget cut. We have not had international travel approved since 2002. It is difficult to convene a group through international travel. Stabilized grants program slightly.
• Standards treatment project – work order NPS accepted from DOD with us doing the lion’s share. NCPTT assisted last year without compensation.
• Without NCPTT, the first round would not have happened. This will bring in $100K into NCPTT which is reflected in the budget.

Personnel change:

• Once Chris Faith left the program, we eliminated the Heritage Education Program.
• Hired Carol Chin in NSU/NCPTT joint faculty. Chin has degree in geochemistry.
• Employed 3 NSU interns and 1 VA-funded intern during school year
• Interns: 8 coming on Monday for the summer, no federal work-study funds, no director money, comes from NCPTT budget. We used to get CRPP money but that stopped 5 years ago.
• Kevin has had to go to very costly administrative training to keep his warrant.
• Sutton suggests tapping into HPTC contracting officer, $1 million warrant.

Facilities Management:

• Explained the Center’s landscape that is in progress
• Solved drainage issues associated with rear door.
• New signage for the front of the building.
• New server room; Evaluated by WASO information management.
• Replaced all servers and added an additional firewall with additional funds
• Added new flat screen TV/Monitor to improve training
• Break areas with benches in the front and back of the building
• Green Team; recycling; heat and air conditioning settings.
• Wireless was just installed in the building

Grants:

• 12 grants totaling $263,000

Board Business:

• Most board members terms have expired – Silman, Preusser, Weiss, Foxall, Bense
• Current – Spodek
• Recognize – Mary Ann Gerbakas
• Looking to fill one position with landscape architect or archeologist.

Partners Report

Steve Horton—Northwestern State University

• Steve Horton represents NSU in place of President Webb. Dr. Randall Webb was unable to attend the board meeting due to freshman orientation today. Finally, repairs to the rear door are complete.
• Strong academic presences. Masters in Heritage Resources program is growing in its third year. There will be eight new students this fall. There are lots of internship opportunities. We are in the second full year in Bachelors of Arts in Heritage Resources. Creole concentration focus in their 3rd year; anyone can minor in Creole studies.
• NSU faces a $15 million budget cut with 71 full-time positions frozen (if someone leaves the position cannot be filled). For FY 09-10 academic year, a 16.88 percent furlough.
• NCPTT always addresses community issues when asked. NSU-NCPTT relationship has never been stronger. Students on work study can come into NCPTT positions. There are issues with work study students who don’t want to work. In the eyes of the university, NCPTT is like a department.
• NCPTT’s Jeff Guin has been an adjunct in the Department of Journalism at NSU and is a 1995 graduate of the program. Interns have come to NCPTT from the journalism and heritage resources programs. Any student that has internships at NCPTT can get credit through NSU provided that they pay tuition. NSU is also giving credit through other institutions through and MOU. Jason Lott is now superintendent at Bandolier NP. He graduated from NSU.

Laura Gates – Cane River Creole NHP
Welcomes board to Natchitoches and the Cane River region. We will be out in the field this afternoon. Emphasis on partnership:

• Get so much out of the joining of resources
• Students: Dusty Fuqua, strong in cultural relationships, collections manager now.
• On both House & Senate, legislation to construct a collections conservation center. Provide authority to enter into agreement with NSU to find funding to build CCC. The legislation & pre-design documents are available. This greatly improves chances for funding.
• PAST program sponsored at NCPTT with NPS CARI partnership. This program focuses on maintenance and journeyman training.
• Preservation in Your Community is an annual summer event that brings together the highlights of the students from the Center and highlights from master’s center and highlights from the NPS. It is scheduled for the end of the summer and is open to the community
• Partnerships are the basis of all our activities.

Cynthia Sutton – Cane River Heritage Area
Welcomes Board to Cane River Heritage Area. CRNHA has a small staff and small budget. Partnerships allows for technical expertise in both international and national arena through NCPTT.

• Public outreach: Specific technical expertise on grants and similar issues.
• Pressing issue: Re-authorization of heritage area and commission. Hoping to expand the area to the west parish border to include Los Adaes. Heritage area wants to fund intern for local GIS database through NCPTT. CRHA has placed signage and way-finding.

Kevin Ammons – Budget Update

• $100,000 from DOD is in personnel costs. This frees up personnel expenses which can be reprogrammed
• Utility costs remain level
• Investing in new computers, laptops
• Cooperative agreement details. Problems with reimbursements for two cooperative agreements and grants
• Staff training for social media
• Cordell points out training report in the board report.

David Morgan – Archeology & Collections
Training:

• Midwest Archeological Course – Experts convention for geophysical archeological techniques wants to be more permanent partner with NCPTT. This course included lecture, technology fair, and discovery. Partnership with Midwest archeological center. Steve DeVore has been hosting workshop. Unofficial experts workshop using noninvasive measures. Lectures in the morning and then went to Los Adaes in the afternoon to practice with the techniques. Try to emphasis the process of the discovery. Provided illustration of some of the results they found.
• David shows partially processed magnetometry data.

Prospection in Depth Training:

• Is an NCPTT course that compliments the MWAC course? This course is hands-on, ground truthing, interpretation. Participants become a researcher, not simply a participant.

Comparative Cartography Study Project:

• Looks at a comparison between topographic mapping and total station mapping at Los Adaes. Look at open pastures versus wooded terrain. Took a systematic approach. Resulted in accuracy and speed, personnel cost, communication loss time, continuous data. This research helps partners at Los Adaes.

Remote Site Surveillance:

• Briefing sheet handed out. Share expertise and equipment with a working group. Have applied for legacy funding. Not funded but may continue to seek this.
• Foxall asked if there were state funds for this project. Morgan looking to the federal side first.
• Cordell indicated that archeological looting is related to drug trafficking.

LUNCH BREAK

Mary Striegel – 2009 Grants

• Focus on future grants
• Continues to advance preservation technology.
• Without adaptations, the grant programs will soon run out of money.
• Will not run out of money in 2010, unlike what the model originally depicts.
• Continued pre-proposals protocol with staff to provide comments to communicate with staff about projects and proposals.
• Limiting the grants to $25,000 for project revenue for a $50,000 project, but we are requiring a 1 to 1 match.
• This ensures that we can track our federal dollars
• Cordell: Money can be matched from another program
• Worked harder to get the calls out earlier, etc.

12 Grants

• Ohio State University-Creation of Web Accessible database
• University of Delaware—Online Training Coarse
• “What’s Out There”—Historic Landscape Grant
• Tennessee State—Preservation of Human Dental Surface
• Workshop on Preservation of Iron and Steel Bridges
• Cultural Heritage Imaging in San Francisco.
• Fire Safety for Historic Buildings
• Arizona State Museum will evaluate treatments for basketry
• Assessment of hand-held multi-zonal imagery for submerged resources
• Princeton University—Salt Damage in Stone and Brick

• Working with adjustments with the grant program, but without additional funds, the grants program will most likely diminish
• Having a problem with grant recipients not acknowledging the Center at presentations and such
  NCPTT’s Sean Clifford and Jeff Guin will present ways that we are trying to work on improving our image and promoting the Center in joint with the grant program
• Working now with Sean, Jeff and Lance about writing blogs and press releases about grants right when they come in

Sean Clifford – Web Clearinghouse

• Website moved to WordPress.
• Staff can add content without having web-building skills
• NCPTT information can be syndicated
• Content can be scheduled for publishing
• Integration with social networking
• Use of WordPress is free and has a lot of plug-ins
• All content was imported from the old website into a WordPress site
• Our visitors are up more than 200 percent with page reviews up more than 300 percent
• There was more than 624 GB of downloaded material. Speed of downloads is much greater. Searching for information is much easier. Information is more prominent on search engines. We are publishing information more rapidly to the website as well. The use of keywords is helping.
• Countries visiting are website: US 79.6 percent; China 4.6 percent; UK 1.88 percent, Canada, Korea
• PDF products that are popular include Timber framing, etc,
• Developing applications for the iPhone
• Close captioning is required on our videos
• Product searches are easier now

Jeff Guin—Public Relations and Social Media Initiative

• Jim Garrison says that this is the single most useful topic that he took away from the last board meeting.

Social media is conversation facilitated by online tools. Hundreds of these tools. Social networks to connect participants to workshops. NCPTT one of the first preservation organizing social media via:

• Podcasting—six episodes so far, three more by the end of summer
• Facebook—NCPTT has more than 180 fans on the social network
• Twitter—more than 200 people following our announcements. Rapidly growing.
• YouTube—training videos and video press releases shared
• NCPTT Wiki—encyclopedic reference of NCPTT history

• Lots of exciting things are happening with social media and cultural heritage. We have the opportunity to partner and mentor other organizations. Most of the big players are not using social media in a useful interactive way.
• There is strife within established organizations and younger people use these tools to express themselves and demand conversation, rather than being told what to do.
• Preservation needs online leadership to help steer the conversation in a productive direction. NCPTT is set to help preservation organizations make sense of social media and gain influence in a big way.
• Since these tools are free and easy to use, they are assets to organizations that need a lot of bang for their publicity buck. With knowledge, tools and a positive mindset NCPTT and other organizations can leverage these tools to substantially advance their missions.
• Though it may seem like extra work in the short term, it is critical that NCPTT make social media a part of its workflow or else become irrelevant.
• Social media experts are being brought in as trainers to help NCPTT streamline its efforts. The next trainer will be Lorelle VanFossen, who is a top blogger and trainer.
• Obama is the first president to have a director of new media and an information technology director.
• He has called publicly for a more transparent, more communicative government using the web.
• The National Park Service still bans social media on its servers. This results in a conversation that is continuing online without any official knowledge or input.
• Once a conversation is established, you no longer control it. You participate even if the feedback is negative. The rewards for authenticity and true interest in the opinions of others are mammoth.
• Call to Action: NCPTT looks to its board as mentors and advocates. Though some members may not want to use these technologies personally, how can the board use its influence to promote these efforts and connect NCPTT to other organizations in need?
• Graham: This is something Preservation Action may be interested in.
• Preusser: There is a lack of communication between board members. These technologies could be useful in sparking meaningful interaction between meetings.

Where should training on social media go?

• Training, tutorials at AIC annual meeting
• Indianapolis Museum of Art
• Western Association of Art Conservators
• National Trust for Historic Preservation annual meeting. Have a looping presentation. See if we can have a social media session and a booth.
• This is one way that “where you are does not matter.”

• Bense says that NCPTT’s work is leaps and bounds ahead in how social media can be used in the preservation profession. This allows us to communicate with everyone – influences reaching to the Smithsonian, the NPS, etc. Judy says that we can present at many conferences.
• Horace says one person at conference and others show from the Center. Could happen at an archeology meeting or National Trust. Need to get the attention of the upper leaders.
• Bense believes that the board can assist as it absorbs these new concepts.
• Do we need a resolution from the board? Formal request that the Center find ways to push this out to professional preservation organizations.
• Bense would like write a letter to Jan Matthews expressing the PTT Board’s support for NCPTT’s social media efforts. The members present supported the idea.

Andy Ferrell—Sustainability & Historic Preservation Conference

• Conference at Pocantico fully funded by the Rockefeller’s and jointly funded by the National Trust
• Cordell and Ferrell attended from NCPTT
• Drafted a Pocantico Proclamation. Can still accept comments.
• NHP & NCPTT friends: June 8th goes public with a press release. Hope that people in the preservation world will be inundated with this.
• A second committee (of will do implementation on this.
• There will be a half day session at the National Trust meeting on how this will influence the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.
• Silman has some cost outlay that needs to be reimbursed.
• Jan Matthews: it was a brilliant conference
• NCPTT will seek input on the document through its website.

Mary Striegel—Materials Research Program

• Summer interns will work on learning modules on thin-layer chromatography
• Looking for new technologies and new applications in preservation
• Looking for new applications of eddy current analysis and interns have built prototypes for $100
• Interns have been working together to expand the eddy current analysis system
• Working with using lasers to remove graffiti from rock art
• Carol Chin joined NCPTT and will wrap up the study on air pollution and stone.

Future research projects

• Nano-technology polymers
• Nuclear magnetic resonance MUCE-Mobil Universal Circuits Explorer

• Allows you to see where pigments stop and can identify organic pigments
• Intern Curtis Desselles has built a rudimentary machine

Training

• A lot of work done in cemetery presentation
• Workshop with Stephen F. Austin University
• Hosting an Iron Workshop in New Orleans
• Partnered with AIC to do an eddy current workshop

Applications of Eddy Currents

• Identification of medals
• Looking at coding over medal
• See through corrosion layers
• Worn-off hallmarks
• 24 presentations and talks in Nashville, Tenn., immediately after the National Trust meeting
• Reached about 300 or more Park Service employees with cemetery preservation
• Work with Fran at UT Austin with a develop of maintenance of building exteriors course
• AIC is interested with the use of lasers in conservation, so will see if they will offer a coarse in the next calendar year

• Still using the Center’s knowledge to help with heritage education efforts even though there is not a department specialized for it.
• Worked with 8th graders and they identified stones and took a tour of the cemetery to identify stones
• Worked with a 5th grade group and studied acid rain and learned the effects of rain. Did an experiment with Tums and vinegar
• NCPTT is working to help define the Department of Defense preservation standards
• Put together a half-day symposium about non-destructive testing in cultural heritage
• Resources—we have an aging laboratory. Built in 1996. Equipment is getting old. Heavy workload. And keeping up with the social media world. Social media adds more work rather than eliminates work for us.
• Internal disability within the Park Service. NCPTT was not identified in the Park Service. How do we get involved to the point that when they want to start a project, they call us first?

Andy Ferrell – Architectural & Engineering Program

• Jessica Cleaver from Tulane University and Joshua Springer from Ball State will intern with the program this summer.
• Jeff Guin has created the podcasts program. Ferrell wants to challenge each board member to work with NCPTT staff to create a podcast.

Three Focuses:

• Disaster preparedness and response. This includes work with Barrett Kennedy and FEMA
• Sustainability and historic preservation thru LEED training. NPS is uniquely placed to consider greening and sustainability
• Preservation Trades – Leading efforts in training in the preservation trades.

Ferrell opens floor for board’s comments:

• Foxall: Discussion with FEMA – if using pre-bid contractors, they must come from region the disaster occurred. Creole cottages could not be properly repaired by New York contractors. Issue of FEMA and the cultural heritage, lack of awareness of cultural heritage in the midst of disasters.
• Issues with paint stripper study. Look to commercial off the shelf products. Weiss wants to be sure you cover class of strippers.
• Energy demonstration projects can take place at NCPTT. Foxall discusses sustainable energy issues at Fort Lewis: studies.
• Garrison recommends that Ferrell look at the sustainability plan for the Grand Canyon. He also recommends that NCPTT look at alternatives to LEED. Ferrell responds that their affiliation with LEED is because it has become an industry standard.
• For the preservation community, the conservation and recycling everything bit, the concept of eligibility becomes a mute point.
• Look into the study, Preservation versus conservation, as a concept toward the move to sustainability. Save certain things instead of saving everything.
• Disaster response: how to do this correctly; want to restore resources rather than preserve resources.
• CRM article about planning cycle; Chambers book on cyclical maintenance. These are topics for NCPTT. Local preservation groups need this type of guidance.
• Garrison is really interested in authenticity. He wants to restore a resource that shouldn’t just be conserved. The Park Service has a philosophy of preservation over restoration, but not everyone sees it like that. Architects who don’t know anything about interpretation don’t know what they are doing when it comes to matching and things like that. Worried about the sacrifice to authenticity in concerns to restoration.
• Bringing ability and practicality to regular objects in a way to preserve them. And then finding a way for average people to understand the concept of preservation and looking toward the Center as a resource for knowing how to do this.
• Preserving authenticity and preserving trades has a paradox. Both are valuable, but they still have a paradox about them.
• Weiss indicates that this paradox was seen in France about 20 years ago.
• Graham: Has anyone looked at the outcomes of the curriculum before using it as a prototype? Ferrell responds with an example from the New Jersey of Technology where the high school curriculum infuses preservation into the curriculum in hopes the high schools come out with either a better appreciation of preservation or perhaps interested in a future career in preservation. Cordell adds that they have viewed some statistics and the students who partook in the program had a higher level of interest in preservation. Ferrell also adds that the students in the curriculum have higher mathematic and physics scores. Graham has a paper on the topic Ferrell could look at.
• Graham is struggling with the balance of preservation and sustainability in the teaching curriculum. Ferrell: What we are looking for is a more holistic approach to sustainability than you get to a green designer, and that is one of the things preservation adds to the discussion. Preservation helps make it more holistic.
• How do we teach architects this topic? Preservation as another parameter of design. Ferrell responds it is something they could work on it with the AIC.
• We need to reach out to those professional societies that deal with historic materials but are not in the realm of preservation.
• Another area is that of reaching the homeowner: comparing the conservation based versus commercially off-the-shelf products. For example, the project of paint strippers and ensuring the homeowner could participate in preservation on a logical level.
• There is another arena with the general public: contractors and preservation professionals. Begin a campaign to include this new audience in preservation.

Kirk Cordell – Historic Landscapes Program

• American Cemetery was site of first cemetery landscape conservation workshop.
• Creating a landscape management database that can be used on tablet PCs and iPhone
• Working with Olmsted Center for landscape management curriculum
• Produced Historic Landscapes training video for replacement of a historic tree.
• Produced Historic Landscapes podcast with Charlie Pepper
• Summer cemetery landscape conservation workshop in Brookline, Mass.
• Weiss asks if we are happy with the speed of progress with this program. Cordell says that we are building the program from scratch.
• Has Olmsted Center proposed joint projects? Not yet.

DOD Standard Treatments Discussion

• Garrison: You either specify quality of work or methods process. Can cause problems in how these are used. If the contractor is to produce a mockup you use generic specifications for materials and methods.
• Foxall believes that experience should be seven years
• Graham: Is there a new MOU between DOD and ACHP? Yes.
• Need to have an owner’s representative.
• We will return to discussion of DOD after the Pocantico discussion.

Pocantico Discussion

• Does the Board have questions? Garrison has with those present and the document looks good. We are awaiting the press release. Some board members felt out of the loop. Commend the effort.
• Problem with communication with the board.
• Wanted more breath of disciplines involved – materials research and archeology, etc. were discussed at the meeting. Bob tried to steer discussions away from energy items & CO2 emissions. A lot of these issues were also social issues as well. We didn’t talk about how the recommendations can be edited through this living document. Review of the types of information is in a specified treatment standard.
• DOD staff didn’t have construction experience. A construction team will go with typical construction methods.
• Foxall should call Brian Lusher to discuss issues with how these standard treatments will be implemented.
• If the DOD doesn’t have the proper professionals then it is all for naught.

David Morgan—Joint Collections Conservation Center

• Three organizations are partners; NCPTT, NSU, CARI. The CARI collections really can’t go elsewhere because they are so tied to the location. Current storage is not up to federal standards. NSU Williamson collection part of Louisiana state archeological repository. Critical storage of space. NCPTT has collection storage needs.
• Original design made by AJC architects in Utah. Questions about the nature of the collections conservation center? Is it really a storage facility or a conservation center? This is a pre-design stage.
• Foxall is concerned about the nature of the designs for the three options thus far.
• Sutton indicates that we don’t have to use the Denver Service Center. Issues with the design of the building and the appropriateness of architectural firms.
• Can we use or readapt buildings that are already in existence?
• Preusser didn’t see the appropriate spaces for real conservation research, clean room, dirty room, etc. Concerned about the adequacy of space. Need to revisit space allocation.
• Address the project as a three phase program:

1. Current plan
2. Specialized labs
3. Advanced storage space

• Preusser recommends many issues to be considered. Willing to assist in design of facility. This is program requirement. Must raise this to the attention of the legislators.
• One comment about earmarks; Congress is more willing due to the economic crisis. Money has dried up elsewhere.

Board Business

Board composition:
Terms are four years but can be reappointed. Mary Ann Gerbakas is nominated.
What do we need?

• Archeology
• Landscape
• Local Agency
• Jay Johnson
• Nancy Odegaard

Operations of Board Meeting:

What kind of interactions do we have for the board and staff? What time of year, dates do you want?
Time of Year:

• Other commitments
• If they can come, consider removal of person from board
• Hindered by the fact that the appointment process is so cumbersome.
• Process can’t really be sped up?
• Depends on the administration. Sutton says he can talk to FACA people in WASO to find out how to get people appointed (will ask Sherry Hutt).
• Sutton can help with appointment but not with makeup of board.
• Can this board have alternates? Not allowed under FACA.

Style of Meeting:

• Preusser: Enjoys the discussion format the most, with a clear call for assistance from the board and decision making points. Enjoyed the presentation on social media and the web. The PTT Board Report will suffice for background on program activities.
• Foxall: Thought that this was the right level of information.
• Garrison: Advocated for a discussion format with more time dedicated to fewer topics.
• Weiss: Would like to hear about ongoing programs and their future directions.
• Graham: Wants conversations about mutual interests. DOD was a bit overrepresented. The social media presentation was engaging. Liked the Architecture and Engineering program’s balance of presentation and discussion. Perhaps more time programmed into meeting so that disciplines meet with manager. Incorporate working sessions and break-out sessions.
• Sutton: Appreciates getting the expertise of the group on NPS projects such as the collections conservation center.

Time & Location of Meeting:

• With one meeting per year, located in Natchitoches, then another location. We can go to a park.
• Preusser: Stay in Natchitoches
• Access to staff
• With other locations, too much time consuming distractions
• This meeting had good timing with 2 day meeting
• We’re here to work, not site see.
• Foxall: Prefers to meet in a Park
• Garrison: An annual meeting is appropriate—perhaps electronically.
• After discussion, it was decided February or March might be good meeting time. The Annual Report could be produced concurrently. Cordell will email the board to find out specifically which dates work best for them.
• Discussed for the time being, the meeting would be at NCPTT and would be two-day.
• Discussed the possible days of the weeks. Friday and Saturday or Thursday and Friday.
• Group prefers Thursday and Friday, but Cordell will contact the board to make sure.
• The meeting was adjourned.

Director’s Note

Welcome to the 2010 Preservation and Technology Board meeting. We are excited by the opportunity to share NCPTT’s accomplishments over the last year, and to seek your counsel on the continuing direction of our research and training programs.

Every year seems busy, but the last was particularly hectic and fruitful as we grew NCPTT’s work in line with the strategic direction set over the last decade. The year brought both new opportunities and the achievement of some of our long-term goals.

NCPTT’s Sustainability and Preservation initiative, created under the leadership of board chair emeritus Bob Silman and the Friends of NCPTT, enabled the National Center to be at the forefront of this movement within the preservation community. Our partnership with the National Trust resulted in a daylong “green preservation” gathering at their annual meeting, and spawned a working group that continues to push the issue across multiple programs and agencies. The blue ribbon Second Century Commission identified NCPTT as a program that is key to the future success of the National Park Service. The National Center also contributed a paper on “The Future of Preservation Technology” to the commission’s work.

NCPTT’s National Cemetery Summit brought together experts from around the country, and became the most financially successful training event in our history. It was the crowning event in a multi-year series of cemetery conservation training programs that has built a new constituency for our research.

NCPTT developed new audiences in other areas as well. Its leadership in social media brought remarkable recognition from content managers far beyond the preservation world and continues to prove the viability of interactive web tools for reaching much larger audiences. The National Center also convened historic landscape architects from the National Park Service and other nonprofit historic sites to begin work on a preservation curriculum for landscape architecture. Additionally, NCPTT began developing new tools and instruments that promise to revolutionize nondestructive evaluation in the field, and to generate income toward the National Center’s research. Finally, an intensive project for the Department of Defense freed up funds and gave us a rare opportunity to improve our laboratories.

It was an exciting and challenging year at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. The caliber of the talent embodied in our staff continues to impress. And as always, we deeply appreciate the expertise and help of the PTT Board and the Friends of NCPTT as we forge new tools for the conservation of our nation’s heritage.

Kirk Cordell

Executive Director

April 12, 2010

Natchitoches, La.

Archeology and Collections

Much of the information needed for effective archeological preservation is hard to see. For objects, sometimes that information is encased by layers of corrosion. For whole sites, sometimes it is buried beneath centuries of sediment. And sometimes that information is inaccessible simply because it has not been shared with others.

Over the last year, NCPTT focused on looking “beneath the surface.” It focused on using technology to see what was hidden, to see what preservation clues could be revealed, and, critically, how those discovery methods could be taught to other professionals.

Portable X-ray Flourescence

One of NCPTT’s major tasks was exploring the application of new portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) devices to archeology preservation problems. One facet of the task involved looking at the use of a Tracer pXRF to characterize the elemental composition of 800-year-old copper artifacts from the Gahagan mound site in Louisiana. This will help the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum better understand the artifacts’ conservation needs.

Working with some materials with a pXRF is relatively easy—glass or metals, for example. Working with textured, composite materials can be quite hard. Another facet of our experimentation with pXRF consisted of working with Bruker Corporation to design an appropriate method to assess heterogeneous materials like pottery. This is important for understanding what kinds of clays particular pots are made, and what sorts of temper ingredients were added. That information helps researchers understand how to conserve the artifacts and it can lead to important discoveries about the artifacts’ place of origin. The protocols were devised this year, and the analysis of pottery excavated from colonial period sites in Louisiana and the Caribbean—a proof of concept project—is underway.

Prospection in Depth

NCPTT continued to help people learn how to use cutting-edge technology to see beneath the ground. Geophysical technologies, like ground penetrating radar, can be used to create three-dimensional images of buried archeological features. Best of all, such techniques are non-destructive, can cover large areas of ground, and can supplement traditional ways of digging. The difficulty with this approach is understanding how the geophysics imagery relates to the genuine—but invisible—archeological features. NCPTT co-hosted two workshops on this topic. “Prospection in Depth,” was held in partnership with the Presidio Trust at El Presidio de San Francisco. The other, “Current Archeological Prospection Advances,” was held in partnership with NPS Midwest Archeological Center at Los Adaes.

At El Presidio, course participants used geophysics to identify pre-World War II building features and to identify several remnant Spanish colonial period features that had, on the basis of traditional archeological methods, been overlooked. The discovery clearly illustrated the benefits of geophysical prospection in site management and planning. Similarly, at Los Adaes, participants plainly identified major buried features of the colonial fort, and the results showed that one of the wall lines at the state park was interpreted and exhibited incorrectly. This revelation also highlights the potential impact of archeological geophysics on the accuracy of education and interpretation programs.

The Many Facets of Archeology

NCPTT grantees also used geophysics to view the hidden past in the service of preservation planning. Dr. Christopher Fennell of the University of Illinois concluded his research on the utility of aerial thermal infrared to identify infrastructural features at historic period archeological sites. Working at the 19th century town of New Philadelphia—the first town platted and legally registered by an African American in the United States—Fennell found that the technique holds promise for detecting buried structural foundations.

Likewise, this year Cultural Heritage Imaging, a non-profit preservation group, used a grant from NCPTT to host a workshop on reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) in San Francisco. RTI uses low-cost digital imaging techniques to highlight surface features of art and objects that would otherwise be hard to see, if not invisible. One outcome of the workshop is a series of do-it-yourself RTI guides soon to be available on the Internet from Cultural Heritage Imaging and NCPTT.

Over the past year, NCPTT recorded a series of podcasts on archeological topics, including the Cultural Heritage Imaging project. Others topics included drying waterlogged archeological wood, and Second Life and an archeological tool.

David Morgan, NCPTT’s chief of Archeology and Collections, left the position last fall to take the directorship of the National Park Service’s Southeast Archeology Center. NCPTT is currently working to place the vacant position.

Architecture and Engineering

NCPTT’s Architecture & Engineering program is currently focused on three priority areas:

1. sustainable preservation
2. disaster response and preparedness
3. facilitating trades training.

For the past several years, NCPTT has been working with partners to investigate the relationship between sustainability and historic preservation. The National Center has convened experts, undertaken research, and developed training that promotes historic preservation as an important component of sustainable development. Conservation of our existing built environment includes reusing buildings, improving their energy and environmental performance, and reinvesting in older and historic communities.

Sustainable Preservation

In 2008, the Center began working with the Friends of NCPTT and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) to convene experts to address sustainable preservation. The group created the Pocantico Proclamation on Sustainability and Historic Preservation, which was followed in the summer of 2009 by the “Nashville Challenge” focusing on the impact of increased energy performance requirements, the use of alternative energy sources, and other emerging green building practices on historic buildings. The steering committee of this group met in February in Washington, D.C., and NCPTT was tasked with developing a sustainability and preservation research agenda.

As a result, the Center has been invited to participate in the sustainable preservation initiatives of the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and to speak at a number of conferences. NCPTT is committed to collaborating with a wide variety of partners representing federal, state and local governments, nonprofit, research and educational organizations, and others to define and develop the role of historic preservation in safeguarding historic resources in a sustainable manner.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System has become the industry standard for demonstrating the sustainability of new construction and rehabilitation projects, with increasing numbers of NPS and other rehabilitation projects aspiring to achieve certification. NCPTT hosted a LEED New Construction & Major Renovations Exam Preparation Workshop, May 20-22, 2009, in Natchitoches, La. The workshop was led by Donna Isaacs, LEED Accredited Professional (AP) and a former participant of the National Center’s Engineering for Older and Historic Buildings workshop. Five NCPTT staff participated, with Kirk Cordell and Andy Ferrell subsequently becoming LEED APs.

NCPTT will offer Green Preservation: A LEED Technical Review and Exam Preparation Workshop, April 21-23, 2010, to prepare participants to take the LEED Green Associate Exam. This workshop is held in partnership with Cultural Resources Management Program for the NPS Intermountain Regional Office and will take place at their offices in Santa Fe, N.M.

Disaster Preparation

NCPTT is continuing to develop a technique for rapid documentation of historic buildings using geospatially-enabled digital video recording equipment. In collaboration with Barrett Kennedy of Louisiana State University, NCPTT staff have presented on this project at a number of national conferences including those of the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS) in New Orleans, March 2009, the George Wright Society, in Portland, Ore., also in March 2009, and most recently, the Building Resilience conference held in New Orleans, La., in Feb. 26, 2010. The collaborators have been invited to present at the DOI Conference on the Environment in Portland, Ore., April 26-30, 2010.

Through an ongoing cooperative agreement, NCPTT has partnered with the Association for Preservation Technology (APT) to offer a number of technical workshops. The most recent of these was Movin’ & Shakin’: Advances in Seismic Retrofit, Nov. 10-13, 2009, in Los Angeles, Calif. Principally developed for structural engineers and technically oriented architects, this two-day workshop showcased the current and latest practice in seismic engineering.

Practical Preservation

The APT conference brought together a wide range of practitioners interested in innovative technologies in the preservation of historic structures and other heritage resources. Andy Ferrell participated in technical committee meetings on preservation engineering and on training towards furthering NCPTT/APT cooperation in offering technical workshops, including the following:

1. A nondestructive evaluation workshop to take place in California later this summer that will provide participants with guidance in the evaluation and rehabilitation of historic structures.
2. A workshop on the preservation of wood in historic structures that will be held this summer at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin near Spring Green, Wis., partnering with Taliesin Preservation Inc.
3. A workshop on innovative tools for energy audits of historic buildings to be held at APT’s annual conference in Denver, Colo., Oct. 6-9, 2010.

Though a memorandum of understanding, NCPTT and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (TIMU) held a seminar and workshop on the preparation and application of limewash, Nov. 17-18, 2009. The workshop was conducted at Kingsley Plantation in Jacksonville, Fla. Participants learned how to prepare and apply a basic limewash.
Working with the Preservation Trades Network, NCPTT co-sponsored the International Trades Education Symposium that was held in conjunction with the International Preservation Trades Workshops in Leadville, Colo., from Aug. 25-28, 2009. This symposium provided an opportunity for trades people, educators, preservationists, architects, students and others from the U.S. and abroad to exchange experiences and ideas to help improve trades education and sustain traditional building craft skills.

In partnership with the University of Florida’s Preservation Institute: Nantuckett (PI:N), NCPTT will offer a one-week workshop on masonry conservation and traditional lime mortars in Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 2-6, 2010. Participants will work with skilled masons to undertake the repair of an early-19th-century structure associated with Nantucket’s famed whaling industry. This hands-on workshop will include assessment of existing conditions, site preparation, removal of inappropriate mortar and, cleaning and repointing joints. The concept behind this workshop grew out of a visit by NCPTT staff to PI:N in the summer of 2009 to lecture on the National Center’s work and sustainable preservation.

NCPTT partnered with Lansing Community College in Lansing, Mich., to present a three-day workshop from March 8-10, 2010, on techniques and technologies for restoring historic bridges. Sessions covered electric arc welding, heat straightening, and hot riveting processes, and were attended by a variety of interested personnel including State Historic Preservation Officers, Department of Transportation officials, engineers, general contractors, students, and historic bridge conservators.

NCPTT’s Sarah Jackson attended BPI Certification: Building Analyst Course taught by Clean Edison in Randolph, N.J., March 15-18, 2010. The course included instruction in the basic principles of building science to assess energy efficiency. After completing the course and passing the written and field exams she received certification from the Building Performance Institute as an energy auditor. Architecture & Engineering has been engaged in discussions with the Intermountain Regional Office concerning the application of these principles within parks in the region and plans to continue its collaboration through future projects.

Edward FitzGerald, a former NCPTT summer intern (2008), has rejoined Architecture & Engineering as a Research Assistant. FitzGerald, a Chicago native, studied Historic Preservation Planning at Cornell University and has worked as a web developer and monuments conservator. While at the Center he is applying his unique combination of skills in the development of Preservapedia, an online “wiki” encyclopedia for historic preservation and cultural resource management. Preservapedia is located at http://preservapedia.org. The aim of this ambitious web-based project is to provide a free and open-source reference point for information concerning cultural resource law, planning, technology, theory, and more.

Crystal Nowlin has joined the staff at NCPTT as an intern for the spring. Nowlin is a senior at Northwestern State University of Louisiana where she is pursuing a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences with a concentration in Housing and Interiors. In addition to helping with the marketing of NCPTT’s upcoming LEED technical review and exam prep workshop that will be held in Santa Fe in April, she is participating in the development of Preservapedia, mentioned above.

Kim Martin has been selected as a summer intern with the Architecture & Engineering Program. Martin holds an undergraduate degree in history from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Penn., and is currently enrolled in graduate studies in historic preservation at Clemson University/College of Charleston. She will continue NCPTT’s research on traditional limewash finishes.

In addition to its regular summer intern, Architecture & Engineering will be hosting Mughammed Sadiq Toffa from South Africa through its programmatic agreement with US/ICOMOS and the US/ICOMOS International Exchange Program. Toffa is an architect with a degree from the University of Cape Town and a Masters of Architecture in Human Settlements from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. His thesis project is entitled Prospects for Sustainable Heritage Tourism in Southeast Asia. Toffa will undertake research in energy efficiency in historic buildings using the Center’s recently acquired blower door and infrared camera. While NCPTT has hosted US/ICOMOS interns in the past, Toffa’s internship represents the formalization of this relationship in a cooperative agreement with US/ICOMOS. In addition to hosting interns, the parties will work together to expand the US/ICOMOS’s International Exchange Program to include early and mid-career professionals.

Communications and Web Development

For many heritage groups, the past year was spent getting their bearings in a world that became highly interactive seemingly overnight. For NCPTT, it has been a time to develop and refine its online content to deliver useful, engaging information on preservation technology that can be accessed anywhere.

NCPTT’s adoption of the WordPress platform for its website last year marked a turning point in the organization’s ability to deliver information quickly and directly to its audiences. In a world where content is king, NCPTT is making its mark among both heritage and government organizations that use the web to communicate.

In December, the influential magazine “Government Video” named NCPTT its Website of the Week, citing the National Center’s use of “photos, videos, podcasts and every other modern method to demonstrate [its research].” Additionally, tech blog Honeytech named NCPTT number four on its list of “Top 10 Government Sites Powered by WordPress.” Honeytech ranked government websites from around the world for their outstanding use of WordPress, which is the web’s most popular content management system (CMS).

Additionally, the WordPress organization chose NCPTT as one of eight U.S. government sites featured in its Showcase for outstanding implementation of the CMS.

Developing a Community
Even while NCPTT’s efforts are recognized by the web and design community, its core audience in the heritage field is growing steadily. Online fans of NCPTT visit more frequently and consume more content now than any other time in the organization’s history.

NCPTT web metrics from March 15, 2009, to March 15, 2010 indicate the website served 6,048,298 page views with over 998,919 visits. Of these visits, 145,960 were unique visitors.

The number of visitors steadily rose from about 1,000 per day at the beginning of NCPTT’s WordPress launch to over 3,000 per day. Visitors viewed an average of six pages per visit and returned an average of seven times each.

The NCPTT website design continues to improve with a focus on simplicity, compatibility, and syndication. Its RSS syndication continues to be a very popular method of accessing NCPTT content. A growing number of mobile users are accessing an optimized version of the site designed for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices.

NCPTT’s primary website is supported by its involvement in external social networks. The National Center has approximately 700 fans on FaceBook; 24,000 photos on Flickr; 1,100 followers on Twitter; and has 15 informational videos on YouTube that have been viewed just under 7,000 times.

The highlight of the National Center’s web content is the “Preservation Technology Podcast.” NCPTT posts new audio podcasts to its website on a monthly basis, along with a full transcript. These transcriptions provide better accessibility to the information, increase the National Center’s search engine rankings, and draw additional readers to the National Center’s website. Listeners can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. So far, listeners have downloaded episodes of the podcast nearly 20,000 times.

Constant Connection
NCPTT is using online communication beyond just websites. In 2009, it began using an e-mail marketing service called Constant Contact that allows targeted mailing lists, easy-to-build newsletters, and campaigns for training initiatives. As a result, National Center ported its “NCPTT Notes” newsletter to an online format that reaches more than 3,500 people each month. NCPTT gains on average 10 new subscribers each week.

Though email and blog sites remain popular, the web is clearly trending toward video. NCPTT has long maintained video training and research products on both its website and on YouTube. Now, the National Center is investing in live webcasting as a critical tool to economically fulfill its mission and reach its audiences, regardless of where they may live.

NCPTT’s first webcast featured its annual Preservation in Your Community event. The event is held at the end of each summer to showcase the National Center’s research for the community where NCPTT is headquartered. The event’s non-technical approach made it the perfect opportunity to launch NCPTT into the world of webcasting. Viewers were able to watch the event on the UStream site as well as NCPTT’s own website.

The National Center delved deeper into streaming video with its Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit in October. Two days of presentations were streamed live. Additionally, many of the sessions were video recorded and are now viewable on the NCPTT website.

Sharing Social Media Expertise
NCPTT hasn’t been alone in navigating the social space. Recognizing the launch of the WordPress site as an opportunity to use social media more effectively, NCPTT began bringing in experts in social media for staff training. These experts have covered the basics of blogging, net etiquette and content privacy.

Last June, the dynamic Lorelle Van Fossen shared with NCPTT staff her expertise as author of one of the world’s most popular sites on the art of blogging and community building. In March 2010, Jonathan Bailey of the popular Plagiarism Today blog visited NCPTT to talk about web privacy and online content protection.

The National Center shared its own expertise over the past year as well. Several organizations contacted NCPTT’s Jeff Guin with their questions about communicating heritage online. Among these are Preservation Ohio, Past Horizons Heritage Media, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Association for Preservation Technology, British Library, Library of Congress and numerous other community, statewide and independent heritage organizations. Additionally, Guin has been interviewed for two dissertations (University of Colorado and University of London) currently being written about social media’s impact on the heritage realm.

Mobile is the way to grow
Interactive tech’s promise continues to grow with the recent explosion of smart phones and PDAs. The GPS and camera features of the iPhone, the 75 million install base of the iPhone OS, and the distribution model of Apple’s App Store have made this platform particularly attractive for historic preservation applications.

Building on work done over the course of the last two summers on electronic landscape records, NCPTT’s Sean Clifford has been developing an iPhone and iPod Touch application called Landscapes. This app works as a catalog and condition assessment system for trees, plants, markers, and other landscape features. The user can browse through previously recorded landscapes, add new ones, or examine a landscape via augmented reality and see features as a layover of the live camera feed, a feature only available on the iPhone.

A group of people with iPhones and iPod Touches can quickly inventory a landscape and synchronize data amongst themselves wirelessly. An iPad version of this application will allow a landscape architect, arborist, or other preservation professional the ability to manage the landscape on a tablet and examine data as it is streamed in live from personnel performing data collection. A custom WordPress plug-in will serve as a web-based storage and backup for this program.

NCPTT’s Sean Clifford is collaborating with David W. Morgan, former NCPTT archeology chief and current director of the NPS Southeast Archeological Center, on the development of an iPhone application to provide a vulnerability assessment of endangered archaeological sites. This is based on work done with the Louisiana National Guard and will be expanded to provide a live system to track site assessments and visits. Similar to the Landscapes application, Vulnerability will use the iPad as a management tool and the iPhone or iPod Touch will be primarily a data collection tool.

The Landscapes app is slated for release the summer of 2010 and PTT Board members will have an opportunity to interact with these applications. Vulnerability is slated for release in the first half of FY2011.

Historic Landscapes

Preservation of historic landscapes requires an interdisciplinary approach. Understanding and preserving the variety of features found in historic landscapes may require the expertise of architects, archeologists, botanists, and other professionals, in addition to an historical landscape architect. At NCPTT, the Historic Landscapes program also benefits from an interdisciplinary approach.

Landscapes Training

In June, NCPTT hosted in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Brookline Division of Parks and Open Spaces a Cemetery Landscape Preservation Workshop at the Old Burying Ground in Brookline Mass. Twenty-nine participants, including municipal planners, public works foreman, cemetery commissioners, landscape architects, archeologists, and preservation consultants learned the basics of proper cemetery maintenance. The majority of the participants were municipal employees, either directly or indirectly involved in historic cemetery management. As a result of the workshop, these communities are in a better position to make informed planning and maintenance decisions for their cemeteries.

The Historic Landscapes program and the materials research program are partnering to livestream the lecture “Addressing Landscape Maintenance in Cemeteries” on April 8, 2010. The one-hour lecture provided an overview of landscape maintenance issues and their impact on cemetery historic resources. Topics included landscape documentation, replacing key features, removing invasive plants, mowing and trimming, tree care, and addressing conflicts between historic vegetation and built features. The livestream video will be reformatted for posting on the NCPTT website.

Field Research

The Historic Landscapes program and the Material Research program are also partnering to study the effects of herbicides on masonry. In progress are a preliminary literature review and the development of a survey directed to NPS historic site facility managers. Survey topics will include the types of herbicides used, herbicide application methods, other methods of vegetation removal, and identified masonry condition issues associated with herbicide use. This summer, Caitlin Oshida will join NCPTT as the graduate intern dedicated to the project. Oshida will receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Historic Preservation and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Mary Washington in May 2010.

Historic Landscapes Mobile Documentation App

For several years, NCPTT has been working to develop an electronic field tool for inventorying and assessing the condition of historic landscape features. More recently, the program has worked in partnership with NCPTT’s web developer to create an application for the iPhone and iPod touch – and to now include the recently released iPad. Ideally suited for historic sites that require cyclical monitoring of landscape features, it will also be an effective tool to efficiently assess historic conditions following a natural disaster. In April 2010, Debbie Smith will present the application as a work-in-progress at the annual conference of the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation.

Preservation Maintenance Curriculum

In 2009, the Historic Landscapes Program and the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation partnered to host a roundtable to discuss creation of an historic landscape preservation maintenance curriculum. Fifteen professionals from around the country representing both NPS and non-NPS historic sites met at the Hampton National Historic Site. Discussion among the participants resulted in the first steps towards understanding and identifying the unmet training needs of field staff responsible for the day-to-day preservation of historic landscapes. Of particular interest among participants was the need to convey to maintenance crews the difference between traditional landscape maintenance and maintenance of historic sites. The ‘why we do things’ differently approach.

In March, Debbie Smith introduced the landscape preservation maintenance curriculum project to an NPS service-wide meeting of cultural landscape professionals in Shepherdstown, W. Va. The group enthusiastically supported the project – recognizing the need for trained professionals in the field of landscape preservation maintenance. To advance the project, Stephanie Nelson will join NCPTT this summer as a six-month graduate intern. Stephanie brings an interdisciplinary background to the project. She has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and will receive her Master of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University in May 2010.

Information Technology

During the last year the IT department has purchased and installed twelve new workstations and five new large screen monitors. Many of the replaced workstations will be used by NCPTT summer interns.

The office computers are currently in the process of being upgraded with new virus software that is provided by the National Park Service as a license at no cost to the NCPTT budget. The servers were the first machines in the office to receive the virus software upgrade.

Plans are being made to upgrade the office machines to Windows 7. Additionally, the latest Windows Office suite will also be installed on the workstations as that becomes available though the NPS site license agreement.

Future endeavors include virtual technology and custom application development projects. The virtual technology project will allow the IT staff to take greater advantage of the processing capabilities of the in-house servers to provide a broader range of services to the National Center. This should take flight sometime this summer. The custom application project has already started with some preliminary work done on the iPhone.

Product Distribution
NCPTT’s web site provides a central location to search for preservation products. In the last year, 439 products were mailed to the public by NCPTT. These products were requested through the online product catalog, faxed order forms, and call-in requests.

The Top 5 Ordered Products
1. Basic Iron Fence Care 2007-03 (video)
2. Cleaning a Stone Grave Marker 2007-01 (video)
3. Resetting a Stone Grave Marker 2007-02 (video)
4. How to Build Drystone Walls and Rock Fences 1996-01 (video)
5. Application and Preparation of Limewash 2008-07 (video)

NCPTT Library
The Center’s library is a significant resource for locating preservation information. Our library database currently contains 1,157 items. Over the last year, 26 new books have been added to the library.

Library Additions
1. Practical Masonry (2009) by William R. Purchase
2. The Green Museum (2008) Sarah S. Brophy and Elizabeth Wylie
3. Your Guide to Cemetery Research (2002) Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
4. American Country Houses of the Thirties (2007) by Lewis A. Coffin
5. Coming of Age in Second Life (2008) Tom Boellstorff
6. Public Relations and the Social Web (2009) by Rob Brown
7. Content Nation (2009) by John Blossom
8. Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (2009)
9. Yes We Did: An Insiders Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand (2009) by Rahaf Harfoush
10. Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles, and Practice (2009) by Norman Tyler, Ted J. Ligibel, and Ilene R. Tyler
11. Handbook of Practical X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis (2006) by B. Beckhoff
12. Visual Basic 2008 (2008) by Rod Stephens
13. MLS Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Seventh Edition (2009)
14. Twitter Revolution (2008) by Deborah Micek and Warren Whitlock
15. Green Existing Buildings by Jerry Yudelson 2010
16. Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett 2008
17. The Southern Heirloom Garden by William C. Welch and Greg Grant 1995
18. Zinc Sculpture in America 1850-1950 by Carol A. Grissom 2009
19. Shaping the American Landscape by Charles Birnbaum 2009
20. Understanding Green Building Guidelines by Traci Rose Rider 2009
21. The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, Urbanism, and Historic Preservation by Steven W. Semes 2002
22. Heritage Values in Contemporary Society by Smith, Messenger, and Soderland 2010
23. Shop Class as Soul Craft by Matthew Crawford 2009
24. Green Building and Remodeling for Dummies by Eric Corey Freed 2008
25. The Northwest Green Home Primer by Kathleen O’Brien and Kathleen Smith 2008
26. Green Your Home by Jeanne Roberts 2008

TELNPS/ Webex Training
The Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Network is the mechanism whereby thousands of National Park Service employees receive competency-based training at or near their work site at little or no cost to them. The Network has over 230 receiving stations across the Service spanning five time zones. The highly interactive training allows students immediate access to their instructor. This interactivity is the key component to the success of broad and varied training opportunities.

Since the last board meeting six classes were taken at NCPTT with 20 participants. Some of those participating were staff from the Cane River Creole National Historical Park and the Cane River National Heritage Area Commission and CRNHA staff.

The installation of the TELNPS station at NCPTT has provided Center employees and NPS employees from the surrounding area with the opportunity to gain high quality training specific to their jobs at a convenient location. The Center is excited to be a part of the NPS’ continued growth of interactive distance learning activities.

Materials Research Program

Building science capacity within historic preservation is a long-term investment in the future of our cultural heritage. NCPTT is performing new research and creating new technologies with partners across our nation and within the National Park Service. Building science capacity in historic preservation gives professionals the tools they need to perform their work better.

Over the last year, NCPTT has been able to increase its research capability through the addition of new equipment, staff, and staff training. NCPTT has acquired key equipment through purchases and through equipment transfer from other Park Service Units. The completion of the Department of Defense rehabilitation standards in September freed up base operating funds and allowed the purchase of new equipment including (1) a Konica-Minolta Vivid-9i laser scanning camera, (2) a Gardner PG-X portable contact goniometer, (3) an Olympus IPLEX Videoscope system, (4) a Leica digital microscope camera, and a (5) FLIR Infrared Camera. Through a transfer of equipment from Harpers Ferry Conservation Center, NCPTT received a Rigaku X-ray Diffraction System and a Varian CP-3800 Gas chromatograph/2100 D Mass Spectrometer.

Tools of the Trade

NCPTT is using lasers to address conservation and preservation problems. NCPTT and Joshua Tree National Park entered into a project agreement to test the use of NCPTT’s tempest laser to remove graffiti from rock art sites. Conservator Claire Dean and conservation scientist Meg Abraham demonstrated the appropriate use of a portable laser system at a rock image site in Joshua Tree National Park. The site has been heavily vandalized with graffiti. Based on the testing that was completed, the conservators learned that it was feasible to use the portable laser system in the difficult topographic settings presented by this site.

NCPTT is using the Konica-Minolta Vivid-9i laser scanning camera to document medium sized pottery and other objects from the Williamson Museum at Northwestern State University. Rodney Meziere, a student in the Masters of Arts in Heritage Resources program, is developing a prototype virtual museum using this equipment. The Vivid-9i laser scanning camera makes precise and accurate measurement of objects by producing three dimensional laser point clouds. Digital images can be placed on the point clouds to create a virtual object. Meziere is undertaking a literature review, learning scanning techniques, and identifying 10 objects from the Williamson and Roque House Museums to create the virtual museum prototype. NCPTT staff received in-house training on the operation of the camera, followed by three days of software training in Durham, N.C. on Geomagic imaging software.

New ways to study cultural heritage are emerging through NCPTT research. Building on previous NCPTT grant-funded work, NCPTT’s Curtis Desselles developed a new low-cost instrument for eddy current analysis that allows conservators to see through layers of corrosion and recover lost inscriptions. For example, NCPTT has worked with NSU students to study obscured inscriptions on French iron crosses that mark the graves of early Louisiana settlers. Also, eddy current analysis provides data for identifying metal composition, determining layer thickness of coatings on metals, and finding metal defects.

Recent staff training includes Laser safety training and ion chromatography training. Jason Church completed forty hours of laser safety officer training and now serves as NCPTT’s laser safety officer. Carol Chin received training on the use of new software that controls the ion chromatograph within NCPTT’s environmental research facility. The improved software is aiding in the study of air pollution deposition to treated and untreated limestone samples.

Convening Authorities

NCPTT is building science capacity in the National Park Service by participating in strategic NPS meetings. Mary Striegel and Kirk Cordell contributed to the NPS Science Dialog held on March 10 in the NPS Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta, Ga. The dialog was conducted by Dr. Gary Machlis, Senior Science Advisor to the NPS Director, with the goal of forming a new science initiative within the Park Service. The meeting focused on science needs within the Park Service and outlined mechanisms to achieve high standards for Park Service science. NCPTT emphasized the need for more cultural heritage scientists, a better understanding of materials science, and more research into sustainable preservation practices.

Cordell and Striegel provided guidance to the Park Service on the care of national cemeteries through participation in the first ever National Park Service National Cemetery Summit hosted by Andrew Johnson National Historical Park, Dec. 16-17, 2009 in Greeneville Tenn. This meeting grew out of NCPTT’s National 2009 Cemetery Summit and brought together representatives of 13 out of 14 NPS National Cemeteries, as well as representation from the National Cemetery Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs. Topics include finalizing NPS national cemetery policy (Director’s Order 61), creating an action plan, developing a Reference Manual 61 draft, and sharing best practices and challenges associated with NPS cemetery operations. Striegel presented an overview of NCPTT’s comparative study of commercially available cleaners for headstones. Cordell presented an overview of Congressional Concerns and shared the results of the NPS evaluation of National Cemeteries. The outcome of the meeting was a consensus regarding Director’s Order 61 and the establishment of a working group to develop the reference manual.

Cemetery preservation skills are offered to National Parks through annual NPS Tel courses. Technology enhanced learning classes are broadcast to park sites in every state. Through this system the NCPTT teaches NPS employees the fundamentals of sound cemetery preservation. The NCPTT course, Essentials for Cemetery Monument Care, was broadcast on March 3, 2009. It was followed by a one-hour program on basics of iron fence repair. The latter course included important skills needed for repairing fences and ornamental ironwork.

Sharing Knowledge

In the summer of 2009, NCPTT contributed its expertise to the development of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Standard Rehabilitation Treatments to improve management of its built heritage. Initial drafts of 34 four standards were completed by a DoD contractor. Advisory Council review indicated that these treatments needed substantial revision. The DOD turned to NPS as a national leader in preservation technology, and NCPTT offered much needed expertise on the preservation of stone, masonry, metals, wood, and various building components. Through the concentrated work of may of the NCPTT staff, the standard treatments were revised, edited, and illustrated on time and within budget. Future application of these DOD standard treatments should minimize potential damage from incorrect or poorly conceived rehabilitation efforts.

NCPTT continues to transfer specialized, hands-on skills to the historic preservation community through state-of-the-art workshops on topics like the proper care and maintenance of historic ironwork. NCPTT held a three-day workshop on the topic in New Orleans, La., June 18-20, 2009, and incorporated lectures on the metallurgy of iron work, hands-on sessions on conservation treatments, and a tour of a blacksmith’s shop to observe replication of missing iron elements in fences and balconies.

NCPTT continues as a nationally recognized leader in cemetery preservation. In July, 2009, Kirk Cordell served on a review panel appointed by the NPS directorate to review management practices at NPS-owned National Cemeteries. A weeklong inspection of NPS and Department of Veterans Affairs cemeteries resulted in a series of recommendations addressing policy, budget, and staffing issues at the NPS cemeteries.

NCPTT invited NPS cemetery managers and a host of other interested professionals to its Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit held in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 19-21, 2009. The summit brought over 100 leading cemetery preservation experts from around the nation to address planning, landscapes, archeology, documentation, and materials conservation in cemeteries. The meeting included two days of lectures, posters, and vendors, followed by field sessions highlighting conservation efforts at Nashville City Cemetery. The summit also included a half-day session on National Cemeteries. NCPTT used its online and social networking capabilities to livestream the Nashville cemetery summit. Individual presentations from the summit are posted on NCPTT’s website.

NCPTT also released a new video, “Lifting and Hoisting a Grave Marker.” Often the repair and maintenance of a broken grave marker requires moving large heavy pieces of stone that are too heavy to lift by one or two people. This video demonstrates the use of an economical tripod hoist and provides important safety recommendations.

NCPTT’s expertise is being recognized by others. NCPTT and its partners received a 2009 District of Columbia Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation for the Congressional Cemetery Historic Monuments Restoration Project. NCPTT developed novel treatments for use on marble monuments in the cemetery, comparing appropriate cleaning methods for application to fragile surfaces on the U.S. Arsenal and the General Alexander Macomb monuments.

Striegel also participated in consultations on repairs and maintenance for the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, offering advice and recommendations for cleaning and repairing the main die block of the monument. She urged the Army to set aside decisions to replace the monument in favor of long-term maintenance and repair and offered guidance for the scope of work and selection criteria for treatment of the tomb.

Partnerships in Science

The National Center is also partnering with universities to develop grant applications for the new National Science Foundation “Chemistry and Materials Research at the Interface between Science and Art” grant program. This program seeks to enhance collaborative activities between conservation scientists, chemists, and materials scientists to address grand challenges in the field of cultural heritage science. NCPTT will serve as a non-funded partner with North Dakota State University on a proposal to develop and monitor innovative coatings for outdoor metal sculpture. Additionally, NCPTT will serve as a non-funded partner with the University of Southern Mississippi and Hybrid Plastics on a proposal to develop a new line of polymers for use in preservation of stone cultural heritage.

NCPTT is interested in transferring technologies to the preservation field using cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA). The National Center is working to develop a CRADA with Hybrid Plastics, Inc for the design, development, and application of POSS® technology to conservation and preservation needs. An intellectual property agreement is being developed to clarify property rights regarding advances in eddy current technologies devised by Curtis Desselles.

PTT Grants for 2010

In March of this year, NCPTT announced its 2010 grant awards to universities, non-profit organizations, federal departments, and state agencies to apply new and emerging technologies to past cultural treasures.

Researchers at the University of Mississippi, for example, will receive $25,000 to digitally recover water-damaged manuscripts with a portable multispectral imaging lab. The same amount of money will go to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, where scholars will employ portable Raman spectroscopy to study plastic windows and headgear in historic aircraft.

In all, $320,000 of federal grants recently gave historic preservation efforts a boost for technology and training. The fourteen grants were chosen from 41 complete applications submitted. The grantees will develop and use technology, methods, and training materials for preservation professionals.

Awards went to:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park to test and augment new cultural resource spatial data standards to make the technology of Geographic Information Systems more useful for cultural resource managers ($25,000).

Bandelier National Park to develop an improved method for repairing wooden structural beams within the park’s Civilian Conservation Corps National Historic District ($6,000).

University of Massachusetts to protect Gullah land and community through the development of a locative media website for tourism, community planning, and education ($24,000).

Clemson University for structural health monitoring of America’s cultural heritage ($25,000).

Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History to create a website and online community forum for Osteoware software ($20,000).

Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum for molecular characterization and technical study of historic aircraft windows and headgear using portable Raman spectroscopy ($25,000).

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to evaluate nanoparticles (quantum dots) in order to tag and determine penetration depths of consolidant treatments ($25,000).

University of Mississippi for digital recovery of water-damaged manuscripts using a portable multispectral imaging lab ($25,000).

Carnegie Mellon University to develop a micro-fading tester with near UV capability ($25,000).

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to create a Massachusetts heritage landscape atlas ($25,000).

Pennsylvania State University to develop assessment techniques for historic concrete and masonry using air-coupled impact echo-methods ($25,000).

Louisiana Landmarks Society for the development of the workshop “Preservation Reengineering: Finding Green Environmental Management in Vernacular Historic Buildings” ($25,000).

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service to develop a “Preservation Protection of Historic Wooden Structures” user guide and online tool ($25,000).

Library of Congress to further materials characterization techniques utilizing advanced spectral imaging methods ($20,000).

PTT GRANTS UPDATES

A Comprehensive Training Program for 3D Digital Rock Art Documentation and Preservation (2009)

Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is the most significant imaging breakthrough for archaeological and heritage documentation and preservation since stereo photogrammetry. Based on internationally developed, state-of-the-art, open source and freely available software, RTI provides flexible, very cost effective tools and methods for the on-site, three-dimensional (3D), full-color digital capture of rock art, petroglyphs and artifacts, with accuracy measured in the microns. PTT Grant awardee Cultural Heritage Imaging held a workshop on this technology July 23-24 at the BLM National Operations Center in Denver. A final report is due.

A Polymeric Treatment for Controlling Salt Damage to Stone and Brick (2009)

Dr. George Scherer of Princeton University has submitted an interim report for the development of a novel polymeric treatment for controlling salt damage on limestone. To date, he has determined the amount of polymer applied to the stone, and the amount that is retained after exposure to water and salt solutions. He has prepared a series of samples for warping tests by impregnating them with sodium sulfate. A paper on the warping method for measuring crystallization stress has been submitted to J. Geological Research. Autopsies on the stones from the capillary rise experiment are currently being performed. The results of these experiments and the warping tests will be written up for publication by the end of this year. The project is expected to be completed by June 2010.

Assessment of Handheld Multibeam Sonar Imagery for the Study of Submerged Cultural Resources (2009)

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum received a 2009 grant to evaluate the use of handheld multibeam sonar for the non-invasive documentation of submerged cultural resources. In October 2009, LCMM executed the underwater fieldwork related to this grant. A handheld sonar (Blueview 990/2200 dual frequency sonar) was evaluated on two Lake Champlain shipwrecks: the steamboat Champlain and a wooden barge. The results suggested that the sonar was highly efficient at guiding a diver in low visibility conditions to the shipwreck site. However, the imagery collected, although much more detailed than typical side scan sonar, lacked sufficient resolution to be used as a substitute for diver documentation of a site. These results were presented by Adam Kane, LCMM Nautical Archaeologist, at the annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology in Jacksonville, Florida in January 2010.

Preservation of Human Dental Surface Micro-Topography with Three-Dimensional Non-Destructive Digital Imaging (2009)

Dr. Shannon Hodge of Middle Tennessee State University is testing the applicability of existing three-dimensional digital dental imaging technology for creating research-quality digital models of human dental surface micro-topography. She is using computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing technology to digitize human teeth from archeological contexts and produce microscopically-accurate porcelain replicas. The project is on task and scheduled for completion in 2010.

Creation of a Web-accessible Database of the Comparative Plant Fiber Collection (2009)

Dr. Kathryn Jakes of Ohio State University has submitted an interim report on the 2009 PTT Grant funded project. The Fiber Reference Image Library (FRIL), a web-accessible database of digital images, explanatory text, and terminology documents has been initiated. When the FRIL database is completed, ethnobotanists, archaeologists and analysts of material culture will be able to glean critical information from artifacts under their study through comparison to fiber morphological characteristics. Additionally, the database that is being created will serve as an exemplar for additional contributions and expansions to broaden its scope and applications. A website was created for the Fiber Reference Image Library at fril.osu.edu.

Development of Ceramic Reference Materials for Calibration and Quantification of Portable XRF Data (2009)

Dr. Caitlin O’Grady reports that progress has been made in determining the physical and chemical parameters needed to produce the main grant product: the ceramic reference materials. Also, research has focused on identifying low-fired ceramics wares of interest, as well as the sites that produced them in the prehistoric Mid-Atlantic region – in particular differentiating between low-fired ceramics produced in the James River drainage and the Potomac River drainage.

Evaluation of Ca(OH)2 Nano-Particle Treatment of Cordage/Basketry (2009)

This project evaluates the impact and effectiveness of calcium hydroxide nanoparticles on archeological cordage. Thus far the laboratory has been equipped with the materials needed to synthesize and isolate the calcium hydroxide nanoparticles. The synthesis of the nanoparticles has been done, and characterization studies are now in progress. The investigation of the effect of nanoparticles on high-lignin content material has begun. Cordage samples have been made from collected native materials, yucca elata, and processed by retting and twisting. Samples of archeological cordage have been scanned, and the information regarding them placed into a database. The project is on schedule.

Fire Safety for Historic Buildings – Teaching Modules (2009)

This grant project develops teaching modules for delivery or distribution to preservation conferences and academic institutions covering fire safety topic areas of fire prevention; code requirements; fire safe construction; fire detection and suppression; and fire-safe renovation. Each module is being compiled electronically for optimum dissemination and presentation technology. Outlines for all five of the proposed modules have been developed. Draft presentation formats for two of the modules were used for a workshop delivered to the Colorado Preservation Institute conference “Saving Places” on Feb. 3, 2010. Work continues on refining these modules and formatting the remaining three modules.

Preservation of Historic Iron and Steel in Bridges (2009)

NCPTT’s Jason Church attended the “Preservation of Historic Iron and Steel in Bridges and Other Metal Structures Workshop,” which was funded with a 2009 PTT Grant. This workshop was held on March 8-10, 2010, at the Lansing Community College in Lansing, Mich. The first day featured eight lectures on different aspects of historic metal bridge construction and preservation. The final two days of the workshop were filled with hands-on demonstrations where the participants learned a variety of techniques from riveting to the welding of cast iron.

The Tutuila Basalt Export Industry: Leveraging Resources to Train Native American Samoans in Preservation Technology (2009)

While work on the project has begun, it has been hindered by the devastating tsunami that struck the American Samoan Islands in September 2009. David Addison has requested a one-year no-cost extension for the project.

Web-Accessible Training in Thin-Section Petrography of Cultural Materials (2009)

NCPTT has received the interim report for a series of learning modules under development with a 2009 PTT Grant. Dr. Chandra Reedy at the University of Delaware is developing the online training geared to conservators and conservation scientists interested in learning how to interpret thin sections of cultural materials. The project is expected to be completed by June 2010.

What’s Out There – An Interactive Catalog of Designed American Cultural Landscapes (2009)

The searchable website has been created and is in beta testing stages with database population underway. The website is searchable by landscape type, style, site name, designer name, design firm, geographic region, and assoicated historic persons. A substantial working database will be live and available for free public used on the TCLF website (www.tclf.org) by June 30, 2010.

FAIC Conservation Catalog Wiki (2008)

On October 1, 2009, the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) launched a new wiki website based on a digital version of the conservation catalog literature. The site, www.conservation-wiki.com, provides much broader access to conservation catalog resources, ensuring that innovative methods and materials are documented and widely disseminated to practicing conservators and conservation scientists.

Historic Windows Assessment Project (2008)

This study evaluates historic windows with a variety of upgrades, such as weather-stripping and storm windows, and compares the performance of these units to Energy Star rated windows. The study also evaluates the performance of new and old windows within the context of a life cycle analysis. The schedule for this project has been delayed due to the extended construction schedule of one of the projects (Villa Finale in San Antonio, Texas). The project estimates came in $500,000 more than expected and it took about six months to secure the extra funding. The construction began Feb. 1, 2010, instead of November 2009 as was anticipated. Window restoration is scheduled to be implemented in June and July. A two-day site visit of Lawrence Berkley scientists and the National Trust Principal Investigator is scheduled for the week of May 3, 2010, for Villa Finale and the following week of May 10, for Lyndhurst.

New Technology, New Opportunities: Development of a National Chert Characterization Database (2008)

A development using x-ray fluorescence has made possible the creation of a database of “fingerprints” using inexpensive analysis of large quantities of chert. This new technology, a collection of materials from the source, the analysis of these source materials and artifacts from a three-state area will provide the beginnings of a national database for chert elemental analysis. Dr. James McCrorey Lawton Jr, at the Center for Archaeology, Tulane University, reports that there have been delays within the project, as the XRF instrument under lease from Bruker was shipped back to the manufacturer for repairs. Upon the completion of the recalibration of the instrument, Bruker extended the lease to cover the lost time as a no-cost modification to the contract. The elemental characterization of the source materials continued, as materials donated from other collectors (complete with coordinates where collected) from other chert-bearing locales were characterized and put into comparative collections. Lawton requested a one-year no-cost extension.

Rapid Quantification of Ceramic Paste Recipes Using Digital Camera Capture and Image Analysis (2008)

This project will develop and test a technique to measure the abundance and size of ceramic temper that is orders of magnitude faster and less expensive than previous techniques. Using digital cameras and multiple lights to capture images of exposed sherd edges and image analysis software to process the images, this technique collects a set of detailed quantitative measurements. Dr. Patrick Livingood reports that the primary data-gathering apparatus was assembled by January 2009 and the Moon Site ceramics were moved to the Southeastern Archaeological Laboratory in October of 2009. With the help of five work study students he has been gathering images of the sherd edges since January. The team originally estimated 25,000 sherds were to be photographed, but now estimate the count will be closer to 20,000. Dr. Livingood has requested a budget change to hire a part-time student for the project and has requested a no-cost extension.

Sustainable Fiber Reinforced Mortar (FRM) Mixtures for the Preservation of Unreinforced Masonry Architectural Heritage (2008)

Dr. Ece Erdogmus, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, investigated and compared sustainable and organic fiber options to more commonly used, synthetic options to encourage sustainability in rehabilitation projects. This project proved that the inclusion of fibers in mortars can effectively increase the strength and ductility of both Portland-cement lime and hydraulic lime mortars, however, in varying levels and not always consistently. Treated cornsilk fibers proved to be a promising sustainable fiber option as the levels of strength increase and ductility were comparable to those of synthetic fibers. Data collected from is available on a free internet website provided at www.unl.edu/ae_frm

Training Calendar

Addressing Landscape Maintenance in Cemeteries
April 8, 2010
Landscape maintenance is a critical element in historic cemetery preservation. Yet, often the landscape is neglected or improperly maintained, resulting in damaged historic features and a loss of historic landscape character. On April 8, NCPTT will present a one-hour webinar addressing landscape maintenance in historic cemeteries. The course will provide an overview of landscape maintenance issues and their impact on cemetery historic resources. Topics will include landscape documentation, replacing key features, removing invasive plants, mowing and trimming, tree care, and addressing conflicts between historic vegetation and built features.

Green Preservation: A LEED Technical Review and Exam Preparation
April 21-23, 2010, Santa Fe, New Mexico
LEED has become an industry standard for demonstrating the sustainability of new construction and rehabilitation projects. While LEED is not the only rating system for buildings at this time it is the most widely used in the United States. NCPTT is offering the LEED preparation workshop to promote the joint consideration of sustainability and historic preservation in planning the built environment. The three-day course will prepare participants to take the LEED Green Associate Exam. The workshop is held in partnership with the Cultural Resources Management Program for the NPS Intermountain Regional Office.

Eddy Current Analysis of Cultural Heritage
May 11, 2010, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The use of “eddy currents”—induced currents in metals produced by a coil—has been a valuable tool in the study of defects in metals for over 50 years. NCPTT has focused its research efforts on developing an affordable, low cost eddy current analyzer to study metal cultural objects. The workshop will focus on the use of eddy currents for identification of metals (ferrous and non-ferrous), measuring the thickness of corrosion, and the recovery of serial numbers and/or images beneath corrosion. Attendees will learn the theory of eddy current analysis. NCPTT, in partnership with the American Institute for Conservation of Artistic and Historic Works (AIC), will hold a half-day workshop in conjunction with the 38th Annual meeting of the AIC in Milwaukee, Wis.

Cemetery Monument Basics
June 4, 2010, Indianapolis, Indiana
This half-day workshop is being hosted by the Crowne Hill Cemetery and presented by NCPTT staff. The workshop is limited to 40 participants and will cover lectures on cemetery documentation, condition assessments, and cleaning techniques. This will be followed by hands-on cleaning demonstrations in the cemetery.

Masonry Conservation and Lime Mortar
Aug. 2-6, 2010, Nantucket, Massachusetts
In partnership with the University of Florida Preservation Institute: Nantucket, NCPTT will offer a one-week workshop on masonry conservation and traditional lime mortars. Participants will work with skilled and experienced masons to undertake the repair of an early-nineteenth-century structure associated with Nantucket’s famed whaling industry. The hands-on workshop will include assessment of existing conditions, site preparation, removal of inappropriate mortar, cleaning of joints, filling joints neatly, and final dressing of joints.

Preservation of Wood in Historic Structures
Summer 2010, Spring Green, Wisconsin
Working with APT and Taliesin Preservation Inc., NCPTT is supporting development of a workshop on the preservation of wood in historic structures that will be held at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin near Spring Green, Wis. Participants will gain a better understanding of how the various professions can interact from conception through completion to have a successful preservation project that has wood as a central component.

Energy Audit Tools for Historic Buildings
October 2010, Denver, Colorado
NCPTT is partnering with the Association for Preservation Technology to offer a workshop on innovative tools for energy audits of historic buildings at APT’s annual conference in Denver, Colo., Oct. 6-9, 2010.

Nondestructive Workshop
Summer 2010, California
NCPTT will host a Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Workshop in California in late summer 2010. Based on past NDE workshops, this workshop will provide guidance in the evaluation and rehabilitation of historic structures.

Managing Historic Trees
Fall 2010, location TBD
Historic trees are a significant part of the landscape, because of their aesthetic, cultural, and ecological value. An understanding of traditional tree care practices and preservation basics is necessary to effectively manage these trees. The workshop will include both lecture and field sessions. Topics will include tree assessment (biological/structural), inventory and replacement, new technologies, preservation techniques, etc.

Educational Resources

NCPTT contributes to educational activities locally, regionally, and nationally by helping students learn more about real world applications of science to cultural heritage. During the last year, NCPTT held student field trips and lectures for all ages, mentored high school researchers, supported preservation trades training, and donated surplus equipment to local schools. And the National Center regularly hosts visits from the region’s graduate historic preservation programs, such as those at the University of Georgia, Tulane University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Involving children in the stewardship of cultural heritage is the primary goal of heritage education. NCPTT provides hands-on activities for elementary students through field trips for fifth and eighth grade students. NCPTT hosted forty Natchitoches Elementary Magnet fifth grade students for a session on acid rain and monuments on March 24, 2010. Students reviewed the water cycle, learned the sources of acid rain, identified damage to cultural resources caused by acid rain, and conducted their own acid rain experiments. The students toured the laboratories and learned how NCPTT staff trained to become conservators and conservation scientists.

NCPTT uses the cultural objects in cemeteries to teach eighth graders about geology and rock identification. NSU Middle Laboratory School students heard lectures on how stone has been used throughout history and how it is formed by geologic processes. They also participated in a hands-on session on rock identification and a field trip to American Cemetery to identify stone types used for grave markers.

NCPTT developed a half-day workshop, “Conservation Scientist for a Day,” on the use of science to study, understand, and conserve cultural heritage. Thirty-four Avoyelles Public Charter School high school juniors studied French colonial and Native American pottery using optical microscopy, chemical spot tests, and portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF). Students learned about iconographic symbols on Native American pottery and studied tempers used in the clay sherds. They also checked for the presence of lead in the glazes using chemical spot tests and used pXRF to identify the elements present in the artifact. A workbook and PowerPoint presentations from this activity will be available via NCPTT’s website.

NCPTT also mentors budding researchers through service learning and internships with students from the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA) and Northwestern State University (NSU). In this academic year, Houren Zhu from LSMSA worked closely with NCPTT’s Curtis Desselles (a former NSU intern) to create a new pocket-sized portable eddy current analyzer used to study metal artifacts.

In June 2009, NCPTT strengthened its ability to teach science regionally by hosting 32 high school teachers from Bossier, Caddo, and Webster Parishes participating in the Math and Science Partnership program (funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education). NCPTT staff demonstrated applications of science and math to the preservation of cultural heritage and provided educational materials and teaching aids. The day-long program emphasized math, physical science, earth science, and chemistry in hopes of strengthening and improving teachers’ knowledge in these areas.

NCPTT remains committed to facilitating preservation trades training. Recently, NCPTT cosponsored the International Trades Education Symposium that was held in conjunction with the International Preservation Trades Workshops in Leadville, Colo., from August 25 – 28, 2009. This symposium provided an opportunity for tradesmen, educators, preservationists, architects, students and others from the U.S. and abroad to exchange experiences and ideas to help improve preservation trades education.

NCPTT reaches out to college students through its partnership with NSU and other universities. NSU’s education majors learned how to use heritage education to teach across the curriculum through a two-hour course offered on Nov. 9. NCPTT’s Jason Church presented a lecture on the use of cemeteries as an educational tool, followed by a scavenger hunt in American Cemetery, Natchitoches, La.

NSU’s Master of Arts in Heritage Resources (MAHR) program is drawing on NCPTT’s depth of preservation knowledge through a series of lectures on materials conservation. This spring 2010, NCPTT provided lectures and laboratory activities to the MAHR students on (1) metals manufacture, identification, and conservation treatments, (2) cultural heritage created from stone, including a hands-on rock identification session, and (3) use of lasers in the conservation of cultural heritage.

In May 2009, NCPTT’s Debbie Smith and Jason Church used cemetery preservation as a tool to teach Stephen F. Austin University students about broader issues in historic preservation. Through three lectures and hands-on training in Oakdale Cemetery, the students learned about vegetation and materials issues, and monument cleaning techniques.

On July 21-22, 2009, NCPTT’s Andy Ferrell and Kirk Cordell presented a series of lectures at the University of Florida’s Preservation Institute: Nantucket on the role NCPTT plays in facilitating research and training in innovative technologies for historic preservation. Particular topics included NCPTT’s grants program, sustainable preservation, preservation trades training, and disaster response and planning for cultural resources. Ferrell also presented a lecture to architecture students at Louisiana State University on the origins of sustainable preservation, beginning with a look at Vitruvius’s De Architectura from the first century B.C. and culminating in a discussion on the relationship between historic preservation and sustainable development.

Jason Church was the keynote speaker for Grambling State University’s Founder’s week. He spoke to 120 students and faculty of the historically black university regarding cemetery care and documentation and conducted a walking tour addressing cemetery care issues. He also discussed career choices in historic preservation and the National Park Service.

More online tools are in development by NCPTT’s staff, including online tutorials on the use of thin layer chromatography for analysis of cultural objects. Future additions to the website will include information on rock identification and on calculation of the weight of a grave marker.

NCPTT donates it’s surplus computer equipment for academic use by the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts, the statewide school for the gifted located across the street from the National Center. In the past year, several items have been donated for use in the school’s technology classes, including three Dell Poweredge servers that were outdated but still working and usable. Other donated equipment included an Olympus Digital camera, a Sony Data projector, a Sony Cisco Catalyst switch, two external tape drives, three Dell Optiplex computers, a Polaroid slide scanner, an IBM laptop, and a 30” flat panel Apple monitor, among other equipment. This has benefited both NCPTT and LSMSA by enabling the National Center to easily dispose of older items while providing students with the equipment they need for their studies.

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