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. Preventive conservation helps through regular care to forestall irreversible damage or future problems.
Conservators recommend the best possible environment for the work's preservation.
This may require regulating physical and ambient storage and display environments, and controlling pests. Interventive conservation refers to any treatment carried out on an object. It may entail cleaning, compensating losses, transferring to a new support, removing old restorations, reassembling, relining, or inpainting the object. The goal of archaeological or ethnographic conservation is to preserve what remains of an artifact, and not necessarily to make it look as it did when first created. Fine arts conservation strives to recover as much of the original work as possible without compromising the artist's intent, and to stabilize the work and return it to an aesthetically pleasing state.