The survey is completely anonymous and takes approximately 10-30 minutes depending on how many comments you would like to make.
It is meant to reflect your personal experience and opinion, not the views of the institution where you work (unless specifically asked for).
You can move back and forth within the survey but cannot exit the website and then re-enter without taking the survey over again.
It is suggested that you take the survey without reviewing the questions beforehand at
However, if you are not completely fluent in English or French you may want to review the questions here:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. What is your specialty?
Please tick your main working field or specialty. For example objects can be metal,
ceramics, stone, plastic etc. Modern materials can for example go under paintings,
paper or objects depending of your main area of expertise.
Preventative conservation
Paintings Objects
Furniture Paper and Photographs
Frames Textiles
Archaeological material
Natural history material
Other (please specify):
2. What time period do you mostly work with?
Antiquities / Archaeological artifacts
Renaissance, Baroque
19th Century
Postmodernism
Modern
Contemporary
All time periods
Other (please specify):
3. In what country or region are you currently working?
4.How many years of experience do you have after completing your training?
Number of years
Comment
5. Are you permanently employed?
Permanent employment refers to an employment position without end date which
can be part time, flexible, or full time. Includes social benefits in most countries.
Yes
No
If you have a part time or flexible employment – what percentage of employment do you have?.
If the answer is no you will go directly to question 9
6. What is your level of employment?
Assistant Conservator-restorer
Conservator-restorer
Senior Conservator-restorer
Department Head
Other (please specify)
7. How many years have you worked for your institution?
8. Approximately how old is your institution?
9. Is your museum / institution a
Public
Private
Other (please specify)
10. Approximately what percentage of the annual budget is your institution / museum responsible for obtaining through exhibitions, sales etc.?
Percentage of budget
PRIVATE PRACTISE
11. If you are in private practice and working for major museums in your country, please enter the average percentage of time you have worked for museums the last five years. Then please continue answering the questions as if you were permanently employed at your most frequent employer.
CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT / CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT
12. Does your institution have a conservation department with permanently employed conservator-restorers?
13. If yes, please tell me the:
Number
Permanent staff, full time
Permanent staff, part time
Comment
14. How many curatorial positions are there in the museum?
Number
Permanent staff, full time
Permanent staff, part time
Comment
15. Approximately how old is the conservation department?
16. What is the physical distance between the conservation department and the curatorial offices?
Same building and same part of the building
Same building but different parts of the building
Different buildings
Different parts of town
Other (please specify in the comment field)
Comment
17. On a scale from 1-10 (1 representing “not at all” and 10 “a great deal”)
Do you think physical distance to the curatorial department (the museum) influences the amount of interaction/collaboration that you have with the curators?
Influence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Comment
ORGANIZATION
18. Who does the Head of Conservation / Chief restorer, Conservator / Restorer answer to?
For those in private practice – please tick the person who you deal with when on contract.
Director
Deputy Director
Section Head of (for example Collections, Exhibitions, etc.)
Head of Curatorial Department
Other (please specify in comment field)
19. Who does the Head of the Curatorial Department(s) answer to?
Director
Deputy Director
Section Head of (for example Collections, Exhibitions, etc.)
Other
20. Who is ultimately responsible for the safekeeping of the collection(s) within the museum organization?
Board of Trustees
Director
Other
EXHIBITIONS
21. At what point does conservation / a conservator-restorer become involved in exhibitions organized with works from an in-house collection?
Before the exhibition is scheduled
When the exhibition has been scheduled but before the final selection of artworks
When the final selection and schedule has been decided
Only for treatments
Other / Comment
TREATMENTS
22. Are artworks selected for major treatment approved by the:
Board of Trustees
Director
Curatorial department
Head of Conservation
Other………..
23. Do curators participate in the decision process around a major treatment? (i.e., review treatment proposals, discuss treatment options, etc.)
Yes
No
Sometimes
Comment
24. If yes, what kind of issues do you discuss with the curators?
Cleaning
Removal of earlier restoration
Consolidation
Integration / retouching
Structural treatments
Technique (for example painting technique, materials used in the artwork, application)
Display issues
Packing / travel issues
All of the above
Other (please describe in comment field)
25. Do you experience that your curatorial colleagues supply you with information that is necessary for a successful treatment, or for understanding an artwork?
Yes
No
Sometimes
Other
26. Do you feel that discussions with your curatorial colleagues on treatment topics are:
Important
Of no consequence to the treatment
Possible
Not possible
I’d rather not discuss it
Why?
GENERAL COLLABORATION
27. In your opinion, to what extent does your institution / employer encourage collaboration / collaborative projects between curators and conservator-restorers?
One being “not at all”, and ten “a great deal”.
Encouragement not at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 a great deal
28. On what issues do you collaborate with curators?
Treatment
Technical art history
Storage
Exhibitions
Loans
Packing
Handling
Other (please specify)
29. What kind of collaboration do you find most important?
30. What kind of collaboration between curators and conservators would you like to see more of?
31. Do you feel that the younger curators have more insight into / interest in conservation than their older colleagues?
Yes
No
Comment
32. Do you experience that collaboration has changed during the span of your career?
Yes
No
Comment:
33. Is there more or less collaboration?
Less Same More
Collaboration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Is this positive or negative?
34. What percentage (roughly) of the curators that you work with do you find to be:
Interested in conservation issues 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Not interested 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Helpful 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Demanding 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Knowledgeable 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Lacking in understanding 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Other (please describe):
PUBLICATIONS
35. Does your institution publish articles (in journals, exhibition and collection catalogues) based on collaborative projects between curators and conservators?
For private conservators: does your employer invite you to participate / publish?
Please indicate in the comment field if this work is paid or unpaid.
Yes
No
Sometimes / rarely
Comment
36. If yes, are the various parts of an article written by both (or all) authors, or are the various authors responsible for writing different sections?
Together
Separate
Both
Other (please specify / comment)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
37. What kind of conservation / restoration education do you have?
Apprenticeship trained
Crafts education with diploma
University Bachelor
University Masters
PhD
Comment
38. Does your country have a conservation training program resulting in an academic degree?
Yes
No
What level? / Comment
39. Did your education in any way prepare you for collaboration with art historians / curators?
Yes
No
In what way?
40. Do you know what general level of education the senior curatorial staff have?
Bachelor
Master
PhD
Do not know
Comment
41. Where in your organization would you put curators and conservator-restorers?
1 represents a low ranking position
10 represents the highest ranking position
Curators 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Conservator-restorers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
42. How do the salaries in the conservation department / of conservator-restorers compare with those in the curatorial departments?
Are they generally:
The same
Less
More
Don’t know
43. Is the question of salary (in relation to your curatorial colleagues) of any importance / interest to you?
Yes
No
Comment
44. What kind of education /courses / programs do you feel could help improve collaboration?
More information on conservation in university art history courses
Courses / lectures on collaboration during conservation training
Job exchange programs (curators and conservator-restorers changing jobs for a set time period)
Other ideas
45. Any additional comments
