Constitution H&A Decks
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Located on Decks 9 and 10, the Historical and Archaeological department spans two decks high with the lower deck (level one) being dedicated to the Museum and Education Center, and the upper deck (level two) housing the massive Vault, three of four Conservatory Technician Labs, the Archive Database, and the Library.
Upper Deck (Level Two, Archives, Authorized Personnel Only)
Archives: A small portion of the Archives database is accessible to the public in the Museum’s Education Center. The main Archives database (level two) is a massive electronic collection of diaries, historical letters, scrapbooks of artists, dealers, and collectors; manuscripts; museums, galleries, and associations; photographs; works of art on paper; and oral history interviews. An appointment is required to access the larger mainframe.
The Library: Located on level two, the Library resembles the beautiful architecture of Earth’s late seventeenth century. Two tiers of bookshelves cover the walls, there are wooden tables and chairs and a wrought iron spiral staircase that leads to a section of the lower deck. The Library contains irreplaceable paper items like ancient texts, scrolls, books, and there are even a few paintings on the walls. This section is not available to the public, and is constantly maintained by the ships environmental systems to ensure the protection, and conservation of each paper item. All guests must have clean hands when handling works. For some works gloves are required for the guest's safety (for example books that have arsenic in their covers).
The Vault: a.k.a. “the crypt”, safely stores items in an environmentally controlled rotating shelf-like storage system. After each item is carefully preserved, and restored by the conservatory technicians, the piece is then cataloged and stored in the Vault for future use.
Conservatory: Four conservation labs are dedicated to the examination, documentation, cleaning, and treatment of various items including paper, wood, rubber, stone, metals, leather, etc. A special technician lab (Studio D) has been placed on level one and has floor-to-ceiling-windows allowing visitors to observe the careful process of maintaining and preserving items.
Lower Deck (Level One, Museum Level, Open To Public)
The Education Center: The Education Center is actually a small holo-deck that is linked to the “visitor’s” section of the Archives database. The holo-deck provides guests with either an interactive or non-interactive learning experience. It is rated ‘E’ for Everyone!
Art Gallery: The Art Gallery features a variety of works of visual art from Federation worlds, aiming to showcase a cross-section of works across cultures, time periods, and styles. While some of the works are replicated and/or projected, the Gallery prioritizes originals whenever possible. It is typically a quiet and contemplative space, but sometimes features works with sound and/or movement.
Some of the Museum's Special Exhibitions include: The Sarcophagus of Lady Rumbabah, The Berellian Art Gallery, The two Tantine Orbs from Wurter Twelve, The Guardian Armor Collection, and the Andorian Ice Gallery featuring the sculptures of Hoka Dule and Op Tan.
Studio D: Is a conservation lab with floor-to-ceiling windows allowing visitors to observe the delicate process of restoring, preserving and maintaining artifacts.