| Seal: | A metal wire and numbered disc that is used to seal locks on vehicle or container doors to deter and monitor tampering with shipments in holding areas or in transit. |
| Seamless: | A backdrop used in photography to create an even background for the main subject. Materials usually consist of large rolls of paper or large pieces of fabric. |
| Series: | A body of file units or documents arranged in accordance with a unified filing system or maintained by the record creator as a unit because of some relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use (Daniels and Walch 1986). |
| Shellac: | A preparation of lac, usually dissolved in alcohol, and used chiefly as a wood finish. |
| Sight line: | The range of a guard's view of objects on display in which large objects do not obscure small objects. |
| Sight measurement: | An approximate measurement of an object, usually a painting or a work of art on paper, taken when the full extremities of the piece are inaccessible (Nauert 1979). |
| Silica gel: | A granular substance that has high moisture-absorbing and emitting properties and is used as a moisture stabilizer in packing, storing, and exhibiting humidity sensitive objects. |
| Slat/skeleton crate: | Crate with Solid bottom and wood slat sides. Sometimes lined with cardboard. May or may not have a top. |
| Sling psychrometer: | An instrument used to determine relative humidity. It consists of a wet and dry bulb thermometer, with the difference between their readings constituting the measure of the moisture in the air (Nauert 1979). |
| Slings: | The rope, cables, or woven straps used in rigging. |
| Soft packing: | Packing an object without enclosing it in a hard-shell box or case, using a variety of soft materials. |
| Solander Box: | A ready-made box of acid-free board; frequently used for the storage of documents, unframed works on paper, etc. (Nauert 1979) |
| Species: | Any subspecies of fish, wildlife, or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species or vertebrate fish or wildlife that interbreeds when mature. |
| Specimen: | Any animal or plant, or any part, product, egg, seed, or root of any animal or plant. |
| Standard facility report: | A form completed by the borrower of objects to demonstrate his or her institution's suitability as a venue to lenders of objects. |
| Statutes of limitations: | Laws that require that claims be brought to court within a limited time period or otherwise the right to claim is barred. |
| Stowage requirements: | The requirements based on the structure of an object that dictate which way up it can be placed, how far off center it can be tipped when handled, and which plane of travel is preferable. |
| Straight truck: | A small truck, from 12 to 24 feet, designed with body and cab connected. |
| Subgroup: | A body of related records with a record group, usually consisting of the records of a primary subordinate administrative unit or of records series related chronologically, functionally, or by subject (Daniels and Walch 1986). |
| Substrate: | In conservation, the immediate surface to which a coating or adhesive material is applied, e.g., the lacquer on a lacquered metal, not the metal seen beneath the lacquer |
| Systematics: | The science of classifying all organisms, both living and extinct, and of investigating the relationships between them; the field of science concerned with taxonomy and phylogeny (Duckworth et al. 1993). |
| Tag line: | One or more control lines that are attached to an object before a lift takes place; used to control the sway, stability, and placement of the object. |
| Take: | To harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. |
| Tare weight: | For shipping purposes, the weight of the packing box, including packing materials, without the object it was build to contain. The term can also be used to indicate the weight of an empty vehicle. See also: gross weight, net weight. |
| Taxidermy: | The process of preparing animal skins and stuffing them in a lifelike form. |
| Taxonomy: | The science or technique of classification; the discipline devoted to the identification, naming and classification of organisms (Duckworth et al. 1993). |
| Temperature: | A degree of hotness or coldness. |
| Threatened species: | Any species that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable fixture throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A species of wildlife or plants listed as "threatened" pursuant to specific act (e.g., Endangered Species Act, CITES). |
| Tractor trailer: | A two-part truck. The tractor is the cab where the driver sits, and the trailer, hooked to the tractor, hauls the freight. |
| Transportation: | The act of shipping, conveying, carrying, or transporting by any means whatsoever and delivering or receiving for such shipment, conveyance, carriage, or transportation. |
| Travel frame: | (1) New or replacement frame used for travel instead of the original frame; (2) wood collar to which an object is attached for travel to allow wrapping. Used on paintings with ornate frames, paintings without frames or with minimal frames, flat sculptural works, and unusual works where the surface may not be touched by packing material. |
| Traveling: | Any horizontal movement. |
| Traveling case: | Case built to withstand a multi-stop tour, usually with reusable fastening hardware on the lid. Usually water resistant. |
| Tray pack: | Objects placed in a tray or drawer using a foam cut-out to cushion them. Trays or drawers can be stacked into a foam lined case; the weight is absorbed by the sides of the tray or drawer, avoiding pressure on the object. |
| Undocumented objects: | Objects in the collections that lack any useful documentation as to how they were acquired. |
| Ultraviolet filter: | A filter that can be placed over windows, skylights, and fluorescent light tubes, between the light source and museum object to remove or reduce harmful ultraviolet rays in the light (Nauert 1979). - |
| Ultraviolet radiation: | Radiation of wavelengths shorter than 400nm, found in light from the sun, sky and most artificial light sources, it is and has a strongly damaging effect on collections. |