History 6302: Collections Management in Museums

Spring 2001

State University of West Georgia/Atlanta History Center

Dr. Ann McCleary Ms. Katie Anderson

History Department ACOG Registrar/Collections Relocation

University of West Georgia Atlanta History Center

770-838-3031 404-814-2055; beeper 404-701-9516

amcclear@westga.edu KAnderson@AtlantaHistoryCenter.com

Class meetings:

This class will meet from 1 to 4:25 p.m. daily from May 21 through June 2 (except for Memorial Day) at the Atlanta History Center. Additional times will be scheduled for students to complete practicum assignments, including 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 4:30-6 p.m. daily.

Course description and objectives:

This class will examine the processes by which a museum manages its collections, from acquisition and collections development to the creation of collections policies to the registration, cataloging, conservation and care of collections. Through this course, students should acquire the skills necessary to conduct registration and curatorial work according to professional standards in a museum or other curation facility. This course is offered in conjunction with the Atlanta History Center and may be used towards the Museum Studies Certificate at the State University of West Georgia and AHC.

Ann McCleary, from UWG, and Katie Anderson, from the Atlanta History Center, will co-teach this course, with guest lectures by other AHC curatorial staff member, including Michelle Leopold, Amy Simon, Susan Neill Doutt, and others. We will utilize the facilities of the History Center as a learning laboratory to explore collections storage, preventative conservation, and exhibits. Students will engage in hands-on practicum experiences processing the ACOG collection, composed of objects preserved from the Atlanta 1996 Olympic games.

Course readings:

Bachmann, Konstanze, ed. Conservation Concerns: A Guide for Collectors and Curators. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

Case, Mary. Registrars on Record: Essays on Museum Collections Management. Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums, 1988.

Reibel, Daniel B. Registration Methods for the Small Museum. AltaMira Press/American Association for State and Local History, 1997 (third edition).

Course assignments

Class attendance and participation (30%):

Because this course covers a tremendous amount of material in only eleven class days, we expect attendance at every class. Class meetings will incorporate lectures, discussions, and practicum experiences which may be difficult to make up at a later date. Some absences may be excused by the instructors.

We expect students to do the readings in advance and be prepared to discuss the issues that the authors raise during our class meetings.

Collections Management Portfolio (70%)

This class will emphasize hands-on experiences in a variety of collections management tasks that a museum professional would undertake in his/her work. Each student will complete four hours of practicum work experience at each of the five stations listed below (a total of 20 hours of practicum time) and compile representative examples of this work into a portfolio that will be submitted for the final examination requirement. Ideally, this portfolio will be something that you can show a potential employer if you are pursuing work in the museum field.

Practicum stations: Each station will have specific assignments to complete. Some examples are given below:

1. Accessioning, to include assigning a number, completing the accession record, labeling the object, and identifying any ethical issues surrounding the use or care of the object

2. Photo documentation, to include the proper techniques for taking photographs of a museum object

3. Computer data entry, to include entry of collections object records into the Atlanta History Center's ARGUS data base

4. Condition reporting, to include inspecting the object for damage, preparing condition reports, and assessing any concerns if the object were to be used in exhibition

5. Storage, conservation, and packing, to include assessing the ideal environmental conditions in which the objects should be stored, determining how the object should be packed for storage and shipping,

Tentative Course Schedule

Note: Please do the readings listed for each day in advance of that class meeting and be prepared to discuss them on that day. Note also that the reading is heavier on some days than others, so please pace yourself!

May 21 Class Introduction and Introduction to Collections Management

Overview of collections management: what it is and who does it. Basic working parameters and considerations for developing collections management policies and procedures. Tour of the AHC's collections work and storage area.

Read: Conservation Concerns, AIntroduction,@ 1-3

Registrars on Record, AThe Role of the Registrar,@ 1-44

Registration Methods for the Small Museum, AIntroduction,@ 7-10

May 22 Acquiring Collections I

An overview of the ethics, standards and professionalism involving collections, including definitions and terminology; an overview of the laws and legislation involving collecting and collections on the state, national, and international level, including NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act); current issues in museum collections

Read: Registrars on Record, AThinking Simply@, 113-128, and ALet=s Kill All the Lawyers: Registrars, Law, and Ethics,@ 131-144

Registration Methods for the Small Museum, AWhat is a Museum Registration System?@ 11-31

May 23 Acquiring Collections II

Methods of acquiring collections, including purchase, gift, and loans; creating a collections policy; building and culling collections; in-house evaluation; and buildings as collections; archives as collections

Read: Registration Methods for the Small Museum, AAcquisition,@ 32-43.

May 24 Record-keeping I

Procedures for acquisitions and registration (obtaining collections items and central record-keeping); cataloging collections (identification, marking, documentation standards, methodologies); Photo documentation; analyzing material culture. Computerized data entry of collections records.

Read: Registrars on Record: AManaging Collections Information,@ 47-58; AThe Registrar in the Cabinet of Curiosities,@ 59-76; and AAutomationA 175-214

Registration methods for the Small Museum: AThe Accession Number,@ 44-57; AAccessioning,@ 58-77; ADocumentation,@ 78-83; AThe Catalogue,@ pages 84-105; AComputers,@ 120-140.

May 25 Record-keeping II

Incoming and outgoing loans (function, purposes, inventory, responsibilities, liabilities, legislation on old loans and abandoned property, and facilities reports); inventory control (using spot checks and full inventories to confirm location and condition of objects); deaccessioning and disposal

Read: Registrars on Record, AThe Essential Collections Inventory,@ 145-160

Registration Methods for the Small Museum, ALoans,@ 106-119.

May 28: Memorial Day: No Class

May 29 Condition reporting; cleaning, and preventive conservation

Preparing condition reports; an overview of preventive conservation including definitions and terminology, products and problems (including health and safety concerns), packaging of collection items, handling, periodic conservation checks, education of staff, and housekeeping.

Read: Handouts to be provided by instructors

May 30 Preventive conservation and environmental monitoring

Developing a museum-wide approach to preventive conservation; techniques for environmental monitoring and recording and instruments used, including demonstration of equipment at the AHC; properties and implications for preventive conservation and regulation for temperature, relative humidity, and atmospheric materials; museum pest management, including control of pests through an integrated pest management policy and identification of pests.

Read: Conservation Concerns, AControl of Temperature and humidity in Small Collections,@ 15-22

May 31 Preventive conservation II

Properties, implications, and strategies for preventive conservation of materials of plant origin, animal origin, inorganic origin, composite and synthetic origin, inherent vice of an object (example: red dyes that are more prone to fading due to the mordant used).

Read: Conservation Concerns, AWarning Signs: When Works on Paper Require Conservation,@ 35-38; AWarning Signs: When Photographs Need Conservation,@ 47-52; AWhen Is It Time to Call a Paintings Conservator?,@ 63-68; ATextile Conservation,@ 79-84; AWarning Signs: When Textiles Need Conservation,@ 85-90; AThe Care and Conservation of metal Artifacts,@ 101-4; AFurniture Conservation,= 105-110; AUpholstery Conservation,= 111-114; APreserving Ethnographic Objects,@ 115-122; ACare of Folk Art: The Decorative Surface,@ 123-128; Composite Objects: materials and Storage Conditions,@ 129-133.

June 1 Collections handling, packing, and shipping

Methods and techniques for the safe handling, packing, and shipping of museum objects and collections, insurance for shipping; handling works of art.

Read: Registrars on Record, AMoving Imagery: Collections Management During a Museum Move,@ 91-112.

June 4 Collections security, storage, and emergency preparedness

Planning for security, safeguarding collections from theft, vandalism, unauthorized use of information, environment, and disasters; methods including housing, controlled access, and building design as the first line of defense against security breaches and uncontrolled environmental conditions; effective housing of collections through appropriate equipment and materials, environmental control, and housing systems; emergency preparedness including threats to collections from natural and man-made disasters and how to plan to mitigate their effects.

Read: Registrars on Record, ARisk with Good Reason,@ 161-172

Conservation Concerns,@ Principles of Storage,@ 5-10; AConstruction Materials for Storage and Exhibition, 23-28; AStorage of Works on Paper,@ 29-34; AStorage and Care of Photographs, 39-46; AThe Preservation and Storage of Sound Recordings,@ 53-56; AStorage of Historic Fabrics and Costumes,@ 69-78; AStorage Containers for Textile Collections,@ 91-96; AStorage of Stone, Ceramic, Glass, and Metal,@ 97-100; AEmergency Planning,@ 11-14.

June 5: Using Collections in Exhibits

Preventive conservation in exhibit design and fabrication, appropriate lighting, controlling the temperature and humidity in cases, care and cleaning of objects on exhibit, length that objects should be displayed.

Read: Handouts to be provided by instructors

June 6: Reading Day. Students may use this date to complete practicum assignments.

June 7: Museum Collections Portfolios are due by 3 p.m. Students may use this morning to complete practicum assignments.