Texts and Memories; excavating meaning, communicating values

This paper explores the nature of conservation as a discipline, and takes as a case study ideas informing the development of a book conservation foundation degree. I analyse the ways the curriculum builds upon an awareness that people from across the world value and use material in different ways. The paper explains several reflective projects that have been developed to explore ideas about the meaning, use and value of items and collections that encapsulate human knowledge and memory. Through engagement in these projects, students are learning the practical and specialist skills of the profession. The projects are shown to deepen understanding and commitment and encourage communication and life-long learning. This paper indicates some of the ways in which the results of the previous pedagogic research can be used to develop questions that can inform the development of new learning programmes