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Collecting “Our Town” Artifacts: Collections Management

Collecting “Our Town” Artifacts: Collections Management. Murl Riedel Assistant Curator KATP Workshop. Intent & Agenda. Intent: To provide you guidance in developing a collections management policy that aid the operations of your institution Sample Collections Management Policy

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Collecting “Our Town” Artifacts: Collections Management

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  1. Collecting “Our Town” Artifacts:Collections Management Murl Riedel Assistant Curator KATP Workshop

  2. Intent & Agenda • Intent: To provide you guidance in developing a collections management policy that aid the operations of your institution • Sample Collections Management Policy • Museum Collecting: Background • Establishing a collection • Do’s & Don’ts • Collection Management Policies • Scenarios

  3. What is a Museum? Origin • Early Museums: Cabinets of Curiosity • Unicorn Horns • Mermaid Fins • Characterizes • Highlights the extraordinary • Brings the world to the viewer • The Artist in His Museum, Charles Willson Peale, 1822

  4. What is a Museum? Modern • To Preserve • Save fragments of your community • Document change • To Educate • Bring the viewer to your community • Part of a bigger picture

  5. American Association of Museum (AAM) • Museum Collection • Order & Organization • Valued by people • Collected with the intent to preserve • Serves the mission • Integrity of artifact and associated information • Sept 11th fragment

  6. What Should We Collect? • Objects that support your mission • Common objects & fine objects • Objects from all cultures and ethnic groups within your mission • Objects that can be cared for properly

  7. What should we NOT collect • Human remains & Rare Species • There are better places for this • Live ammunition • It goes boom! • Hazardous artifacts • Poisons & Radioactive stuff: dangerous to staff and visitors • Looted artifacts • Might be stolen

  8. Important Term: Public Trust • Non-Profit Organizations • Tax Exempt Status = partial public ownership • Stewards of the public collection • Obligation to your audience and governing board/elected officials • Obligated to protect, manage, provide access to, and maintain intellectual control over collections and associated records

  9. Important Term: Intellectual Control • Documentation • Unique Number • Legal Ownership • Object Name • Location • Photographs • Provenance

  10. Collections Management Policy (CMP) • Written Policy that addresses • Care of collections • Development of collections • Access to collections • CMP is a set of policies • Acquisitions, Accessions, Registration, Cataloging, Security, Storage, Exhibition, Ethics • Don’t be scared • Policies are simply a written instructional “how to” guide

  11. Acquisitions Policy • To accept or not to accept • Most critical decision in the museum business • Policy is the “how to” instruction for making this decisions

  12. Players in the Game • Museum Board • Museum Director • Curator • Collections Manager • Registrar • Educator

  13. You Are Not Alone • Decisions should not be made by one person • Form a committee • Sub-Committee of Trustee • Acquisitions Committee of Staff • Creates engagement from others and shares responsibilities

  14. Developing Policy • Write down a few rules • Regular meetings (monthly) • Who attends and who votes? • Before the Meeting: One person gathers info • After the Meeting: One person records info

  15. Factors to consider when accepting • Relevant to mission • Obtain legal title • No extra conditions • Provide proper storage • Good condition • Exhibition/Research Value • Not duplicated • Artifacts history can be documented

  16. Additional Tips • Not everything is important to the museum, but everything is important to the donor • If you don’t want it, don’t bring it in the house • If its falling apart, or going to fall apart, you won’t be able to fix it • If one is good, two is NOT better • Write down everything. Without documentation, an artifact is worthless • Space is your most important commodity.

  17. Things You DON’T Do • Don’t Accept Permanent Loans – There’s no such thing • Don’t Accept Conditions – No promises • Don’t appraise artifacts

  18. Basic Structure of Acquisitions Policy • Mission • Scope of Collections • Defines limits • Acquisitions Committee • Decision Makers • Duties • Meetings • Criteria for accepting

  19. Scenario 1: Cigar Boxes • Former Rock Creek School principal is offering 30 cigar boxes • 5 boxes were made by manufacturers in Riley and Pottawatomie Counties • 3 boxes display labels of local groceries stores and tobacco shops • All boxes are worn, some are soggy and some are covered with crayon markings • What do you accept and why?

  20. Scenario 2: Bear Claw Necklace • An antique dealer from Denver offers to sell a bear claw necklace that belonged to Chief Wabash, a Pottawatomie Indian incarcerated at Ft Riley in 1870 • The necklace is in perfect condition

  21. Scenario 3: Protest Signs • A member from a regional extremist organization is offering 2 protest signs. The signs were used in Westmoreland, Kansas, to protest the 2011 funeral of a US Soldier. • The protest led to a Supreme Court decision • The signs are made of tape and cardboard and depict graphic images

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