Yale-Smithsonian collaboration picks up pace

March 9, 2015

In the frame of the recently reintroduced collaboration between Yale University and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Dr. Catherine Stephens will collaborate with Dr. Odile Madden of the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) in a study on the degradation behavior of cellulose acetate. Cellulose acetate is found in museum and archival collections in the guise of cinema film, audio tapes, photography negatives, cultural artefacts and even sculptural objects. Cellulose acetate is famous - or infamous - for the vinegar-like odor it gives off during degradation and its inherent instability.