• Checking whether an object is there and if not, figuring out why, how big is the
  problem, etc.
• How big: informal audit, formal audit
  • location inventory - every 10 years
  • location audit - every year
• Quality assurance, condition assurance
• Pull all the objects with mediocre condition report - and audit them
• Capture history of function

1. Event Trigger

• Scheduled routine (randomized in some fashion)
• Alert (something's missing): i.e. anything this person touched in the last month vs. this one object that's missing.
• Personnel change
• Emergency: earth quake, blackout, large crack on the floor, fire

2. Define scope

• Audit on whole collection, part of it
• Location/condition audit

3. Allocate resources for the audit

• I'm the only person in the department, I go do the audit, who is going to cross check my work?
• Someone outside the museum can come and do the audit (cross training)
• Need algorithm to assign resources
• Means of doing an audit
  • manual - barcode reader
  • smart phone - blackberry that run on museum's wireless - need to call up images of the article

4. Evaluate results

• Real time or aggregate evaluation
• vandalism
• map gallery characteristics to deterioration characteristics