The relics of polar exploration are treasured in the museums of a multitude of nations. In Australia, the focus of most such collections is Sir Douglas Mawson and his expeditions to Antarctica in 1911–14 and 1929–31. The nature of these collections divides into the two large categories of scientific specimens and expedition relics. The latter are spread among Australian and other museums in a distribution that speaks of fascination with the exotic and heroic aspects of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition and the geopolitical ramifications of the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition. The specimens, by contrast, have not been treated well, and although thoroughly documented, may be close to losing their integrity as scientific resources. Both types of material merit the renewed attention of their museum-keepers as resources on the history of Antarctica.

The move into the preschool represents the first of many transitions for children with developmental disabilities or delay and for their families. The present study examined the transition process for 111 children as reported by their parents. The data indicate that clear relationships exist between parental evaluations of the success of the integration and the four following factors: parental involvement in the transition process, continuing support from the early intervention service, the degree to which parents perceive themselves as equal members of the preschool group and the degree of congruence among the goals expressed by the parents, the preschool teachers and the early intervention workers. The implications of the findings for best practices are explored.

In 1988, the U. S. Congress provided $1.4 million to six Aleut communities in Alaska as restitution for damage done to their churches by U. S. forces stationed in the Aleutians during World War II. The residents of these communities had been forcibly evacuated and interned for up to three years in camps in southeast Alaska where many died. At the request of the Aleuts, restitution to the Orthodox churches was given a special place in the U. S. decision to make reparations. The Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, a non-profit organization, has been charged by Congress with assessing the damage and estimating the cost of restoration. The assessment project, begun in November 1991, has utilized the expertise of an architect and art conservator to examine structures and church furnishings of these churches and has reached some preliminary conclusions: 1) The stress of travel for those icons and liturgical vessels which accompanied the evacuees was significant and damage related to that travel is evident today; 2) The churches themselves were often targets of vandalism and looting by the American troops; 3) the churches were left without regular maintenance in the harsh climate of the Aleutians for three years; 4) the Aleuts were destitute on their return and could not restore the buildings to their former condition; 5) the results of makeshift repairs in the immediate post-war era are evident today in a general state of deterioriation. The final report to Congress on this project is due in the Spring 1993.

Ion chromatography has been applied to the investigation of corrosion and efflorescence products on a range of museum artifacts whose deterioration is due to reaction with organic carbonyl pollutants in the storage environment. The potential of the technique and its optimisation for the determination of chloride, acetate, formate, nitrate and sulphate anions and associated cations are reported. Compounds containing acetates and/or formates from ceramic, geological, mollusca and metal collections have been investigated. The utility of ion chromatography for the examination of specimens which show no visible efflorescence, but from which significant acetate and formate levels can be quantified, is also demonstrated. The complementarity of ion chromatography and other techniques, in particular X-ray diffraction and infra red spectroscopy, for the investigation of efflorescence products is emphasised.

Pigment identification and technical analysis of works of art provide the historian and conservator with information that allows a new view of an object. The methods the analyst chooses depends on the nature of the sample and the materials and method expected for the age of the object being examined. Several analytical methods are used frequently in the museum field with great success; these include x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, x-ray powder diffraction methods and optical microscopy. Results from the analysis of pigments in paintings by Derain, Beckmann, El Greco, G. David, and Gentileschi are given. The results include discovery of an unpublished formulation of cobalt violet, example of the use of particle size to change the appearance of color, and the use of x-ray fluorescence to determine artists' palettes without removing samples from the works of art. The study of the El Greco and the Gentileschi show how technical investigations can complement art historical research.

We have analyzed single and multiple layer paint samples to evaluate 3 MeV external beam proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) for elemental analysis of inorganic pigments. The results are compared to those from energy dispersive electron microprobe analysis and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS). The advantage of PIXE is that the protons' penetration depth of 100 microns is more than 25 times greater than that of 20 keV electrons and 10 times greater than 3 MeV alpha particles, thus allowing analysis of relatively thick samples of up to 100 microns. The proton beam is passed into the atmosphere (external to the vacuum system) through a thin polymer film, and the beam area on target is 1 mmz. Electron microprobe and RBS require vacuum compatible samples; therefore, the pigments were painted on silicon wafers. Calibration was obtained from metallic thin-film samples of known thickness. The cross calibration of the three analytical techniques allowed evaluation of external PIXE analysis of paint films. We suggest that this nondestructive method is suitable for elemental analysis of drawings and paintings provided that further studies indicate no long term damage is caused.