Conserve O Gram 4/1e: Specialized Museum Storage Furniture

For more information, see COG 4/1: Selecting Museum Storage Furniture: An Overview.

This Conserve O Gram (COG) details the various types of specialized museum storage furniture that meet best practices in the museum profession. For retrofitting existing storage, see additional COGs in Series 4: Museum Collections Storage. For information on cold storage of photographic collections, see COGs 14/10-12.

Specialized museum storage furniture, such as safes, vaults, freezers and other specialized cabinets, come in a variety of sizes and types. They provide additional physical security, fire protection, and safety for hazardous objects such as firearms, wet specimens, radioactive collections, or high-value artifacts.

General Pros and Cons

Pros

• Specialized storage furniture protects both collections and staff/public.

• It may satisfy certain fine arts insurance requirements and local, state, and federal regulations.

• Specialized storage furniture can be keyed or coded separately from other storage furniture. Use of restricted-access keys or codes provides an additional layer of physical security for hazardous or high-value objects.

Cons

• Specialized storage furniture may have combination locks, which are time consuming to open in an emergency.

• Restricted access to codes, combinations, or keys may impose additional obstacles to object retrieval.

• Specialized storage furniture can be heavier than standard storage furniture and may exceed floor load limits. Upper floors of a building may not be capable of bearing its weight.

Considerations When Choosing Specialized Museum Storage Furniture

Figure 1: Flammable cabinet holding wet specimens. (NPS Photo)

Fire Rating

• Specialized storage furniture is available with different fire ratings that indicate the maximum temperature its interior is designed to reach when its exterior is exposed to fire for a certain length of time.

• Be aware no safe or vault is truly fireproof, only fire-resistant. Specialized storage furniture cannot substitute for automatic fire detection and suppression systems. See NPS Museum Handbook Part I, Chapter 9: Museum Fire Protection.

• Consult with a qualified professional to select the appropriate fire rating and fabrication features. Within the NPS, this is the Park Structural Fire Coordinator or Regional Structural Fire Marshal.

• Select specialized furniture based on the contents being stored, building type, size, and materials, and projected response time of emergency services.

• Consider fabrication features like heat-activated seals and appropriate layers of fire-resistant materials.

Drawer Track Mechanisms

• Select wheeled track mechanisms or ball-bearing suspension as appropriate. Track mechanisms should operate smoothly when accessing objects to minimize vibrations.

• Ensure drawers have a track stop mechanism to minimize the risk of unintentionally pulling a drawer or shelf out completely.

• Choose unpainted metal track mechanisms to prevent degrading paint debris from falling into drawers, impeding smooth operation.

Locking Mechanisms

Figure 2: Gun safe with a combination lock. (NPS Photo)

• Select the locking mechanism that best meets the needs of the collection. Specialized storage furniture is available with key, code, or combination locks.

• Implement appropriate key or code access protocols and keep them up to date, as necessary. See NPS Museum Handbook Part I, Chapter 14: Museum Collections Security.

Installation Concerns

• Anchor specialized storage furniture as appropriate to ensure the safety of both objects and personnel.

• Check building engineering and/or architectural drawings to determine the floor load limit of the storage space. Select specialized storage furniture that will not exceed the limit, including when full. It may be necessary to place specialized storage furniture along a load bearing wall or structural component.

Specialized Storage Furniture Types

Gun Safe

Figure 3: Gun safe. (NPS Photo)

Gun safes are available in various sizes and interior configurations, including custom designs. Be aware that many historic rifles and muskets do not fit in safes designed for modern weapons. For more information, see the NPS Museum Handbook Part I, Appendix G: Museum Firearms, Small Arms Ammunition, Munitions, and Artillery.

Valuables Safe

Figure 4: Safe. (NPS Photo)

Valuables safes are available in various sizes and interior configurations, including custom designs.

Storage Furniture for Hazardous Collections

Figure 5: Freezer used for cold storage. (NPS Photo)

Hazardous collection objects may require specialized storage furniture, such as flammable cabinets, lead-lined safes, or freezers. These options have safety protections such as fire ratings appropriate to the specific objects they store.For additional information, see Selected References below.

Selected References

COG 2/10: Hazardous Materials In Your Collection
COG 2/18: Safe Storage And Handling Of Natural History Specimens Preserved In Fluid
COG 11/2: Storage Concerns for Geological Collections
COG 11/3: Storage Concerns for Fluid-Preserved Collections
COG 11/10: Radioactive Minerals
COG 11/11: Health And Safety Issues With Geological Specimens

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Anne Ennes, Textile Conservator
Shay Henrion, Registrar and Conserve O Gram Editor
Casey Oehler, Museum Curator
Museum Conservation and Collections
Harpers Ferry Center, National Park Service

Formerly issued as Conserve O Gram 4/1
Don Cumberland, Jr. (1993), Museum Specialist
National Park Service

The Conserve O Gram series is published as a reference on collections management and curatorial issues. Mention of a product, a manufacturer, or a supplier by name in this publication does not constitute an endorsement of that product or supplier by the National Park Service. Sources named are not all inclusive. It is suggested that readers also seek alternative product and vendor information to assess the full range of available supplies and equipment.

The series is available on the National Park Service Museum Management Program's website.