Contact me

Contact me through our enquiries team

I manage the History & Technology collection management team, who work to organise, document, preserve and make accessible our diverse social history and technology collections.

We also do a lot of work to manage hazardous substances in the collections, which include batteries, pharmaceuticals, lead-based toys and paints, and objects that contain asbestos as insulation.

I’m a paper, photographic and preventive conservator by training. My interests include collection risk management, the deterioration of plastics in museum collections, data collection and analysis, the conservation of comics, and 19th and early 20th century adhesives.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Applied Science in the Conservation of Cultural Materials (University of Canberra)

Graduate Certificate in Photographic Materials Conservation (2007-2009), University of Melbourne

Masters of Arts by Research (2007-2009), University of Melbourne – Thesis: Adhesives in paper-based heritage collections 1870-1920: Recipes and proprietary products.

Diploma in Law and Collection Management (2015) – The Institute of Art and Law (London)

Key publications

Cannon, A., H. Privett, M. McCubbin, and R. Waller. 2017. Towards the 'collectively subjective': The challenges of estimating loss in value during collection risk assessments. In ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4–8 September 2017, ed. J. Bridgland, art. 1504. Paris: International Council of Museums. [Link to online article: http://icom-cc-publications-online.org/PublicationDetail.aspx?cid=d22c5ee1-687e-4601-88da-9b6ca90a7c5b]

Illuminating intuition with evidence: assessing collection risks within Museums Victoria's exhibitions. Authors: Alice Cannon and Rob Waller. AICCM Bulletin 38:1 (2017), pp. 25-35. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10344233.2017.1347246

Water-resistant adhesives for paper, 1870–1920, Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1080/19455224.2014.997770

A Review of Lining Methods for Paper- based Photographic Prints from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. 2011. Studies in Conservation, Volume 56, Number 3, p.167-178 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1179/204705811X13110713013191

The conservation and display of comic books. Contemporary Collections: Preprints from the AICCM National Conference 2007. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

Professional activity

I'm currently the Vice President of the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (aiccm.org.au), the professional body for conservators in Australia.

Research projects

Museums Victoria is a partner in the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Developing a framework for the management of malignant plastics in collections (project LP160100160).

Cannon, A., H. Privett, M. McCubbin, and R. Waller. 2017. Towards the collectively subjective’: The challenges of estimating loss in value during collection risk assessments. In ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4–8 September 2017, ed. J. Bridgland, art. 1504. Paris: International Council of Museums. 
Cannon, A. 2017. [Link to online article: http://icom-cc-publications-online.org/PublicationDetail.aspx?cid=d22c5ee1-687e-4601-88da-9b6ca90a7c5b]

 Data harvesting for art materials research: A case study using the Trove newspaper collection. Poster. ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4–8 September 2017, ed. J. Bridgland, Paris: International Council of Museums.

Cannon, A, M Churchward, N Crotty, D Leggett, and K Fisher. 2017. Parts per item: Using object weightings to achieve consistent estimates during the risk assessment of a historic sewerage treatment plant. Poster. ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4–8 September 2017, ed. J. Bridgland, Paris: International Council of Museums.

Waller, R and A Cannon. 2017. Loss rules! Taking the measure of collection damage and loss scenarios. Poster. ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4–8 September 2017, ed. J. Bridgland, Paris: International Council of Museums.

Illuminating intuition with evidence: assessing collection risks within Museums Victoria’s exhibitions. Authors: Alice Cannon and Rob Waller. AICCM Bulletin 38:1 (2017), pp. 25-35. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10344233.2017.1347246

Risk under the microscope: risk management for Museum Victoria’s scientific slide collection. Authors: Danielle Measday, Alice Cannon and Rob Waller. Collection Forum. Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) – in press – 2017.

Water-resistant adhesives for paper, 1870–1920, Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1080/19455224.2014.997770

The age of animal glue. In ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 15–19 September 2014, ed. J. Bridgland, art. 0601, 8 pp. Paris: International Council of Museums.

Adhesives for paper labels, 1870–1920. In ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 15–19 September 2014, ed. J. Bridgland, art. 0602, 10 pp. Paris: International Council of Museums.

It stopp’d short—never to go again—. 2013. Materiality: TIME. Melbourne: pinknantucket press.

The prize is the proof. 2012. Materiality: BOOK. Melbourne: pinknantucket press.

Six enemies of books. 2012. The King’s Tribune, June 2012. Melbourne: The King’s Tribune.

Investigation of Fusion 4000 as an alternative to Lascaux when mounting inkjet prints. Topics in Photographic Conservation, Volume 15, 2013, Photographic Materials Group, the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works.

Adhesives used for mounting photographic prints of the 19th and early 20th centuries. AICCM Bulletin, Vol. 33 (2012), pp. 41-52.

A Review of Lining Methods for Paper- based Photographic Prints from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. 2011. Studies in Conservation, Volume 56, Number 3, p.167-178 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1179/204705811X13110713013191

Interactions Between Adhesives From Natural Sources and Paper Substrates. 2011. Proceedings of Symposium 2011 – Adhesives and Consolidants for Conservation, Canadian Conservation Institute, Ottawa 2011.

Major Developments in Adhesive Manufacture [poster]. Presented at Symposium 2011 – Adhesives and Consolidants for Conservation, Canadian Conservation Institute, Ottawa 2011.

Australian adhesives for paper, 1870-1920. 2010. Contributions to the 6th AICCM Book, Paper and Photographic Materials Symposium 2010. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

Adhesives in paper-based heritage collections 1870-1920: Recipes and proprietary products. 2008. Contributions to the 5th AICCM Book, Paper and Photographic Materials Symposium 2008. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

The conservation and display of comic books. Contemporary Collections: Preprints from the AICCM National Conference 2007. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

Baxter prints. 2006. AICCM Symposium 2006: Conservation of Paper, Books and Photographic Materials. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

Risk Management [chapter]. Disaster management in libraries and archives. Ashgate, 2003.

The Conservation of the Charles Dyce Collection. In Sketches in the Straits, Irene Lim, Singapore, NUS Museums, 2003.

IPM x 10: Pest Management on a Regional Level. AICCM Bulletin, Volume 28 2003. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

Unconventional: A discussion about Aboriginal Art and documentary heritage on paper. AICCM Symposium 2002: Conservation of Paper, Books and Photographic Materials. Authors: Alice Cannon, Fred Francisco, Anne Dineen, Vicki Humphrey, Anthony Zammit. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.

Mould on Paper: Three Case Studies. Preprints: AICCM Book and Paper Group Symposium, 2000. Canberra, ACT: AICCM Inc.