What is comic book 'conservation'?

What is comic book 'conservation'?

Mark Zaid (Owner of Esquire Comics) gives expert video advice on: How does restoration affect a comic book's price?; Should I use tape to repair my comic books?; What is comic book 'color touching'? and more...

There is a debate within the comic book community now of the discussion between comic book conservation and comic book restoration. Conservation means in a sense what it also means for books and other types of artifacts: that you are trying to conserve the state of quality of the book. So, for example, with a comic book that may have staples starting to rust, you want to try to do something to conserve the state of that book so the staples do not continue to rust and then erode the contents of the paper. Conversely, restoration is where you are trying to restore the comic book from one grade to a higher grade in it's original form. At the moment, there is not a consensus from a value standpoint if there is a difference between conservation and restoration. But it is a topic that is being discussed with greater intensity to try to distinguish between the two categories.