Robert A. Baron, Collection Management Resource List, An informal list of museum reports

Collection Management
Resource List
An informal list of museum
reports, files and documents useful for the
execution of an
Object Management Systems Analysis
1997

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[ ] 1. General Policy statements.
The following list of documents provides a context
for identifying and defining museum activities and
tasks. The tasks implied by these documents may
be associated with one or more persons whose
responsibility it is to carry them out. They
offer a view into the museum's operations from the
perspective of those who make it work. The
ability to relate each person and role to a group
of functions and to establish sets of tasks is
crucial to the analysis.
[ ] a. Mission statements for the museum, and for its
departments. Include mission statements for
the registrarial, curatorial, development, mem-
bership, library and administrative departments
if they exist.
[ ] b. Governmental and/or supervisory rules regarding
acquisition, exhibition and other object-
related matters.
[ ] c. Job descriptions and personnel lists.
These are especially useful if they list
responsibilities and tasks. Job descriptions
for anyone who may need to consult or add to
object information on any basis should be sub-
mitted.
Job descriptions may include administrative,
curatorial, development, membership, security,
volunteer, education and even, in some cases,
museum store personnel.
[ ] d. Stipulations imposed by donors. (See below.)

[ ] 2. Procedural Policy statements.
Policies beget activities and activities beget
tasks. Tasks use, create, and relay data. Proce-
dures reveal what happens to the data, who creates
it, who receives it and what actions occur in con-
junction with it.
[ ] a. Acquisition policies.
In-house documents that describe museum policy
regarding the legal acquisition or transfer of
objects by gift, bequest, transfer, purchase or
auction.
[ ] b. Change of Attribution policies and forms. (See
below.)
[ ] c. Loan policies, procedures and forms. (See
below, Loans.)
[ ] d. Conservation policies, procedures and
guidelines.
[ ] e. Deaccession policies, procedures and forms,
including:.
[ ] f. Cultural property and repatriation policies.

3. Reports, forms, files, documentation.
a. Acquisition/Deaccession
[ ] (1) Copies of any forms and/or procedural docu-
ments used to facilitate and/or monitor
transfer of title, to evaluate and/or
solicit accessions, to purchase, receive,
exchange, transfer or dispose of objects.
(See also: Procedures.)
[ ] (2) The documents created by the above
activities.
[ ] (3) Letters used to thank donors or to cor-
respond with vendors.
[ ] (4) Bills of sale, invoices, deeds of gift,
affidavits and certifications of ownership
and/or provenance.
[ ] (5) Forms for collecting Provenance and
previous owner history.
[ ] (6) Conservator, inspection and appraisal
reports relating to acquisition.
[ ] (7) Curatorial worksheets and/or studies
prepared in advance of acquisition and/or
in preparation for cataloging.
[ ] (8) Committee reports and/or minutes of com-
mittee meetings regarding the acquisition
or refusal to acquire objects should be
provided in sample.
[ ] (9) Rules regarding the attribution of credit
to donors and rules governing the form and
syntax of credit lines.
[ ] (10) Lists of restrictions placed by donors
upon the normal administration or use of
museum objects, including limitations on
identifying donors or on changing attribu-
tions.
[ ] (11) Donor restrictions placed upon the dis-
play of objects, on lending objects and on
deaccessioning objects.
[ ] (12) Lists of donors and contributors of
objects.
[ ] (13) Exhibit history. (See Loans).
[ ] (14) Standard object information reports for
in-house use.
[ ] (15) Standard object information reports for
public use.

b. Loans: Lending and borrowing activities.
(1) Loan policies and procedures.
[ ] Rules, checklists and procedures regarding
the processing of in-loans and out-loans.
Many museums develop checklists to document
their routine procedures, including steps
to be taken when an object is to be con-
sidered for loan and when it has been
approved for loan.
[ ] (2) Same for long-term loans and short-term
loans.
[ ] (3) Documents requesting loans and related cor-
respondence files.
[ ] (4) Rules governing the shipping and insurance
[ ] (5) Declaration forms for customs.
[ ] (6) Standard facility report.
[ ] (7) Standard letters used to confirm loans,
remind borrowers, commission shippers and
couriers.
[ ] (8) Receipts, bills of lading and manifests
used to transfer custody of objects during
shipment (see below: location control).
[ ] (9) Crate inventory and packing lists (see
below: location control).
[ ] (10) Rolodex files of shippers, vendors,
institutions, institutional contacts, and
other agents.
[ ] (11) Incoming and outgoing loan files,
including loan "status" files.
[ ] (12) Scheduling calendars for exhibits and
loans.
[ ] (13) Incoming and outgoing inspection
reports.
[ ] (14) Object incident reports.
[ ] (15) Loan fee invoices and payment informa-
tion.
[ ] (16) Reports, files and documents indicating
loan status of objects on loan or borrowed.
[ ] (17) See also publishing for copyrights,
licenses and permissions.

c. Collection Documentation
Whereas only the most elaborate of automated
systems actually include data from many of
these sources, the systems analysis must point
to the existence of these data stores and show
their function within the museum's procedures.
(1) The paper files (and reports) used to
record or research object information.
These will usually include the following:
[ ] (a) accession registers, and ledgers,
[ ] (b) accession files,
[ ] (c) artist and maker files,
[ ] (d) object location files,
[ ] (e) research files,
[ ] (f) bibliography files,
[ ] (g) clipping files,
[ ] (h) acquisition documentation files,
[ ] (i) loan history files,
[ ] (j) insurance files, including documents of
indemnity and claims,
[ ] (k) vendor and donor files,
[ ] (l) Style sheets and worksheets used to
compile object research reports and
catalogue entries,
[ ] (m) Accession cards and/or forms used to
register and catalogue objects, includ-
ing those forms currently used and
those used in the past. If different
collections use their own formats and
fields, examples of these too should be
supplied,
[ ] (n) Cards from inverted files,
[ ] (o) Publication cross-reference files,
etc.,
[ ] (p) Citation files.
Some museums keep citation files,
documenting each known published
reference to, or reproduction of a
museum object.
[ ] (2) Description of accession numbering system.
[ ] (a) Part/whole relations descriptions.
[ ] (b) Group and collection identifiers.
[ ] (3) Description of subject filing systems and
other finding tool classification systems.
[ ] (4) Cataloguing manuals, including officially
designated style guides.
[ ] (5) Lists of nomenclatures and authorized
vocabulary lexicons in use or to be used
(e.g. Chenhall, Getty AAT, Thieme-Becker,
ICONCLASS, transliteration rules, gazet-
teers, geographical, geo-political and his-
torical authorities).
[ ] (6) Change of attribution request forms.
[ ] (7) Other authorization forms and guidelines.
[ ] (8) Collection inventory reports.
[ ] (9) Inventory projects and inventory check-
lists.
(10) Collection summary reports produced for
the museum director and trustees, for pub-
lication, for internal administrative
checks, for interns and for use by visiting
scholars. These may include the following:
[ ] (a) lists of new accessions
[ ] (b) objects slated for conservation
[ ] (c) objects on loan
[ ] (d) exhibitions of objects on loan
[ ] (e) schedules for object returns
[ ] (f) objects customarily used for a class
[ ] (g) summary reports listing the year's
exhibitions.
[ ] (11) Insurance lists. (See also loans).
[ ] (12) With permission of their creators,
scholarly files and private records kept by
curators may be consulted (if not neces-
sarily accommodated).
(13) Photographic and other image documenta-
tion files such as are used to provide pub-
lishable and didactic images and slides
from the collection.
[ ] (a) Negative files
[ ] (b) Transparency files
[ ] (c) Photographer logs
[ ] (d) Data concerning the ownership of
copyright and the granting of pub-
lication permissions.
[ ] (e) Photos on hand.
[ ] (f) Photographic sales files.
[ ] (g) Files and records pertaining to the
request for, granting, and administra-
tion of objects to be published and the
collection of fees pertaining thereto.
[ ] (h) Photographic documentation files.
[ ] (14) Handbooks, guides and charts to the
registration filing systems.
[ ] (15) Accessory lists (boxes, pedestals, dis-
play and custom storage containers).

d. Computer systems.
[ ] (1) Short description of current automated
cataloging system, including a list of its
functions and files.
[ ] (2) Print-screens of the data entry forms and
display forms used in the current data-
bases.
[ ] (3) Samples of all standard and typical ad-hoc
computer-driven reports.
[ ] (4) A list of database tables and fields and
the rules and syntax controls applied to
them.
[ ] (5) Database control or authority files.
[ ] (6) Database language and/or system used.

e. Education
[ ] (1) Docent scripts.
[ ] (2) Gallery lists.
[ ] (3) Gallery plans.
[ ] (4) Lectures and gallery talks.
[ ] (5) Events schedule.
[ ] (6) Education department activities list.
[ ] (7) Label copy and the style book or procedures
used to create labels.
[ ] (8) Lecturers, docents, clients of education
programs.
[ ] (9) Facilities used by the Education Depart-
ment.

f. Publications and citations
[ ] (1) Policy statements governing citation of
museum objects published.
[ ] (2) Object Citation and bibliographic files
(cited above).
[ ] (3) Published descriptions of the collection,
especially those citing areas of concentra-
tion. (See education and collection docu-
mentation).
[ ] (4) Published exhibition and collection
catalogues from the permanent collection.
[ ] (5) Travelling and borrowed exhibitions
catalogues and lists.
[ ] (6) Handlists and gallery guides given to the
visiting public. (See education.)
[ ] (7) Membership and events calendars, adver-
tisements, and newsletters.
[ ] (8) Files administering copyrights and rights
for reproduction. (See above)
[ ] (9) Press releases.
[ ] (10) Museum publicity clipping file.

g. Library
[ ] (1) Is the museum library catalogued?
[ ] (2) Is the library catalogue available in MARC
format?
[ ] (3) Does the library catalogue use LC subject
headings?

h. Location Control and collection care.
[ ] (1) Object administration documentation,
including checklists and/or work-
order/routing forms that
[ ] (a) determine and track the location of
objects,
[ ] (b) present objects for conservation and
for loans,
[ ] (c) remove objects from display or storage,
[ ] (d) allow objects to be removed from and
brought into the building, and
[ ] (e) document the fact that an object was
removed from its permanent or current
location.
[ ] (2) Include shipping and insurance documents,
such as
[ ] (a) bills of lading (cited above),
[ ] (b) crate labels,
[ ] (c) crate contents checklists,
[ ] (d) documents of indemnity.
[ ] (3) Master lists of object storage locations
and facilities.
[ ] (4) Sample location files.
[ ] (5) Object movement history reports.
[ ] (6) Object movement work orders.
[ ] (7) Environmental monitoring reports and data.
[ ] (8) Security division gallery/object checking
books and photos.

[ ] i. Conservation and restoration.
[ ] (1) Object condition reports.
[ ] (2) Object condition surveys.
[ ] (3) Object inspection Reports.
[ ] (4) Object treatment reports.
[ ] (5) Object description and construction
records.
[ ] (6) Display parameter and restriction
guidelines.
[ ] (7) "Loanability" parameter and restriction
guidelines.
[ ] (8) To-do lists.
[ ] (9) Conservation documentation files.
[ ] (10) Object incident reports (usually from
Security division).
[ ] (11) Materials and media lists.
[ ] (12) Bibliographic files.
[ ] (13) Photographic files.
[ ] (14) Facility reports from other institu-
tions.
[ ] (15) Job timesheets.
[ ] (16) Vendor and supply lists.
[ ] (17) Capital equipment inventory and mainte-
nance schedules.
[ ] (18) Resupply schedules.

j. Resources.
[ ] (1) Inventory lists of computer hardware.
[ ] (2) Software used.
[ ] (3) Networks in place.

[ ] k. Exhibition. (See also Loan/Borrow objects.)
[ ] (1) Exhibit development book.
[ ] (2) To-do lists.
[ ] (3) Research records,
[ ] (4) Exhibit development schedules.
[ ] (5) Exhibit venue schedules.
[ ] (6) Public programming schedules.
[ ] (7) Loan lists.
[ ] (8) Exhibit lists.
[ ] (9) Wall lists.
[ ] (10) Catalogue texts.
[ ] (11) Promotional texts.
[ ] (12) Exhibit checklists.
[ ] (13) Courier lists and schedules.
[ ] (14) Lists of graphic artists and free-lance help.
[ ] (15) Files for graphic products.

Ref: RESOURCE.NB4 printed October 13, 1997

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