Collections Management Resources

Introductory Texts:

American Public Gardens Association: “Understanding the Fundamentals: Collections Overview.” https://publicgardens.org/resources/understanding-fundamentals-collections-overview.

Ohio Local History Alliance: “A Primer on Museum Collections Management”http://www.ohiolha.org/resources/how-tos/a-primer-on-museum-collection-management/.

National Board of Antiquities: “Checklist for Museum Collections Management and Policy” http://www.nba.fi/fi/File/2404/museum-collections-management-policy.pdf

Implementation Guidelines:

American Alliance of Museums (US): “Developing a Collections Management Policy”

http://www.aam-us.org/docs/continuum/developing-a-cmp-final.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Collections Trust (UK)

Collections Management Guidance Sheet 1: Collections Management Framework 

 http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/collections-link/collections-management/item/1087-collections-management-framework-guidance-sheet-1 

Collections Management Guidance Sheet 2: Policies

http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/collections-link/collections-management/item/1079-collections-management-policies-guidance-sheet-2

Collections Management Guidance Sheet 3: Planning and procedures 

http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/collections-link/accreditation/item/1078-collections-management-planning-and-procedures-guidance-sheet-3

 National Park Service (US)

NPS Museum Handbook Part I: Museum Collections:http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/MHI/mushbkI.html

NPS Museum Handbook Part II: Museum Records:

http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/MHII/mushbkII.html

NPS Museum Handbook Part III: Museum Collections Use:

http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/MHIII/mushbkIII.html

 The Society for the Preservation of Natural History collections: Best Practices

http://www.spnhc.org/37/best-practices

Metadata Standards:

Collections Management Standards (guidelines for required information)

Biodiversity Information Standards, DarwinCore

http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/

Collections Trust, Spectrum

http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/spectrum

Data Structure Standards (metadata element sets)

The Getty Research Institute, Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CWDA)

http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/

Visual Resources Association, VRACore

http://core.vraweb.org/index.html

Data Value Standards (content to fill data structures)

American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), Nomenclature

http://community.aaslh.org/nomenclature-errata/

The Getty Research Institute, Getty Vocabularies

http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/

Library of Congress (LoC), LoC Subject Headings

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects.html

For more information about different types of metadata and metadata categories, we encourage you to review this presentation by Murtha Baca at the 2008 Special Library Association: http://www.slideshare.net/vonjobi/murtha-baca-470569) 

Examples of Collections Management Policies:

 Object Collections

 Florida Museum of Natural History

https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/collections/policy/

Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/collections-management-policy

New York State Museum Sample Collections Management Policy

https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/services/charter/additionaldoc/collections.html

San Diego Archaeological Center

http://www.sandiegoarchaeology.org/images/Curation/SDAC%20Collections%20Mgmt%20Policy%202013.pdf

Science Museum of Minnesota

https://www.smm.org/collections/policystatement

The Whitney Museum of American Art

http://whitney.org/file_columns/0002/6177/collection_management_policy_final_4-13-09_.pdf

Living Collections

Longwood Gardens

http://longwoodgardens.org/gardens/about-our-plants/our-collections/plant-collections-policy

Missouri Botanical Gardens Herbarium Collections Management Policy

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/Science%20and%20Conservation/PDFs/Visitors/HerbariumCollectionManagement2012.pdf

U.S. National Arboretum

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Information/USNACollectionsPolicy.pdf