MD Archaeological Conservation Laboratory

@TAMU_CRL Can you please describe your justification for destroying original materials as part of the conservation process?

12. #IconArchTC We hope this presentation helps you in your future collections survey endeavors. Lastly, a big thank you to our colleagues at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory and the Dovetail Cultural Resource Group.

1. #IconArchTC My name is Heather Rardin Rovardi, and I'm part of a team of conservators at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, which is located south of Washington, DC. Our facility is the repository for the State of Maryland’s archaeological collections.

11. #IconArchTC creating an ergonomic workspace for surveying, and healthy habits like exercise and sufficient sleep can all help significantly with lessening survey fatigue. Efforts like these to lessen survey fatigue will have a positive impact on your team’s productivity.

10. #IconArchTC In conclusion, survey fatigue is a result of the repetitive actions that a team performs when carrying out a collections survey. Survey fatigue may not be completely avoidable, but taking breaks, breaking down total numbers into daily or weekly goals,

9. #IconArchTC Most important: take breaks. Longer hours are detrimental to productivity, but breaks provide a helpful boost (Erdman 2019; Pang 2016). Young, Rivers, and Hurry (2003) noted a productivity increase after a 6-week project break. Our team surveyed every other week.

8. #IconArchTC 1) Break the survey down into daily or weekly goals and project milestones, 2) periodically rest your eyes to prevent eye strain [tinyurl.com/y8hekw32], 3) create an ergonomic workspace [tinyurl.com/u3kkt2m], 4) get sufficient sleep and exercise.

7. #IconArchTC Now that you’re aware of survey fatigue and the non-linear relationship between human work and human output, we wanted to share some practical tips that we learned in the trenches of surveying that can help you lessen survey fatigue.

6. #IconArchTC Instead, longer hours mean that workers are more stressed, fatigued, more likely to injure themselves, and make mistakes (Golden 2011; Pencave 2014). This means that more time spent surveying is more likely to exacerbate survey fatigue and lessen productivity.

5. #IconArchTC If we imagine a survey project as a marathon, the need for pacing becomes clearer in order to lessen survey fatigue. Shift length and output have been researched and discussed for over 100 years, but data shows that longer work hours don't increase productivity.

4. #IconArchTC Here’s why we should care: survey fatigue negatively impacts your team’s survey rate. Data collected by other museum professionals conducting a similar survey shows that high output was often followed by periods of lower output (Young et al. 2003).

3. #IconArchTC Large-scale collections surveys are a mental and physical undertaking. Moving heavy containers, working in tight spaces, documentation, and periods of concentration can result in survey fatigue, which is a feeling of tiredness produced by repeating these actions.

@ICONArchaeology @AlexArchaeology 2. #IconArchTC We conserve artifacts from the state’s collections, but also take on conservation projects for external clients. Last year, we finished a conservation assessment of 1,800 containers for a client. This took roughly 12 weeks to complete with a team of less than 5.

@ICONArchaeology @AlexArchaeology Presented by Tatiana Niculescu, Archaeologist for the City of Alexandria and Nichole Doub, Head Conservator for the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory