Working from 13 laboratories, the section continued to provide essential conservation services to 12 public museums, the Art Promotion Office and the Antiquities and Monuments Office.

In addition to rendering technical support when client museums mounted exhibitions and devising programmes for the long-term preservation of varied museum collections, the section treated 3,626 cultural objects, including paintings, paper artifacts, textiles, photographs, metals, ceramics, ethnographic objects and archaeological finds.

Since the opening of the section's Resource Centre at the Museum of History, the public has had access to conservation reference materials. The conservation website had also been revamped to enable the public to book the Resource Centre's facilities and to send enquiries on-line.

In a bid to develop greater community involvement in the section's work and to promote general awareness of its role in preserving the cultural property of Hong Kong, the section has recruited 27 volunteers through the Cultural Services Volunteers Scheme. They will help with a variety of conservation projects. Another recruitment exercise is planned for 2003.

In support of the School Culture Day pilot scheme, the section invited 10 secondary schools (bringing a total of 353 teachers and students) to visit its conservation laboratories. They took a behind-the-scenes look at the conservation work, and then tried some of the techniques themselves.

As a participant in the 2002 International Museum Day, the section presented a series of academic and educational programmes for the general public. The programmes, which attracted more than 6,100 participants, included a lecture, five hands-on demonstration workshops, four behind-the-scenes tours and a museum fair.