Microscopic examination and documentation of a daguerreotype People generally think of conservation in terms of the natural environment. But according to Andrew Oddy, Keeper of Conservation at the British Museum, long before the word gained its current popular usage, the museum profession had applied it to all aspects of saving the historic heritage. It extends the life of a work of art, a natural history specimen, or an artifact. It also recovers and preserves information about how an object was made and used.
Conservation treats the sources of deterioration rather than merely focusing on the symptoms.
Human intervention, the physical environment, or even the object's inherent nature can cause deterioration. Conservation tries to hold off the inevitable processes of entropy. Conservators carefully select materials used in treatments for compatibility with the object. Whenever possible, they formulate reversible treatments so that is a superior treatment is someday found, previous repairs can be removed. Investigative conservation uncovers valuable information for the curator or archaeologist.