COLLECTIONS AND MUSEUM

STORAGE
Natalija osi
Central Institute for Conservation in Belgrade

RE-ORG SEE workshop, 15-25 October 2014, Belgrade

Museum and storages

Museum as the non profit organization- collects, conserve,

research and exhibit

Storage heart of the museum

Housing the museum collection that is not on the display

Management- mission statement

Museum mission statement

A written statement of the purpose, scope, uses, desired
outcomes/impact of the museum, its activities, and its collection.
How this reflects to storage?

Without clearly formulated, up-todate mission statement and policies,

there may be confusion about what
the museum does, what it collects and
how storage is connected to this.

Management- collections management policy

Policies- important part of museum management

Defines the scope of museum collection

Defines framework of storage function

Management- collections management

policy
A collections management policy is a set of policies that address
various aspects of collections management, in this particular case
regarding storage they regulate access, function, use etc.
All activities related to the administration of a collection, from
acquisition to disposal (documentation, digitization, handling, loans,
de-accessioning and disposal).
This policy defines the scope of a museums collection and how the
museum cares for and makes collections available to the public. A
collections management policy also explains the roles of the parties
responsible for managing the museums collections.

Storage and mission statement- brothers in arms

Museum collecting according to mission statement will
directly influence on:

Types of objects
Material
Dimensions
Origin
Specific condition
Specific conservation requirements

Message- why do we keep objects

Aesthetic message
Technical or historical

Scientific or technical or aesthetic

Message, storage and mission

Determines significance of an object

Defines subcategories of collection
Position in the storage

Object message may surpass other

messages in an object which can
determine our judgment on the
significance. Also, different types of
heritage- e.g. living vs.
contemporary design collections,
may have diverse impact on
professional decision about object
importance. Therefore, message/s
of the collection are constantly
overlapping and changing their
level of importance. So message
that will be selected and identified
as noteworthy depends on the
museum mission statement and
what museum wants to collect and
which message to transfer.

Message- object usage

What defines museum object?

Private or personal collections

Museum collections

Accession number

Canadian Museum of Nature

http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/

Mission-collection-message
Collection represents a series of objects which have
the common message

Museum collection- criteria

To constitute a real collection, these sets of objects must
form a (relatively) coherent and meaningful
whole.
There is no predefined universal criteria, just guidelines
In line with museum mission and collection policies
General aspects to consider - historical significance, authenticity

price, physical condition, durability, rarity, display value and research

value

Collection

A grouping of objects or items held in title by the

collecting organization

Several individual collections

May include the building itself or the site

What do find in storage

Objects that are part of the collection placed in the

storage
Objects from other collections, not belonging to the
particular storage
Non collection items- old publications, boxes,
exhibition paraphernalia, curator personal
belongings etc.

What do find in storage

What do find in storage

Collection
Non collection
exhibition

equipment

garbage

Gray area

other collections
soon to be collection
study collections
copies and replicas

Study collections, copies and replicas

Study collections as well copies and replicas fall into
special category of museum possessions.
Consequently, their use and placement should be
reviewed corresponding to museum mission as well
to the purpose and value of those objects (e.g.
documentary value of copy or replacing vanishing
original), since number of those object can increase
over years. So if there is no clear policy for
management of these categories, eventually this
could lead to overcrowding problem.

What SHOULD we find in storage

STORAGE

COLLECTION

What to take in account

Space for the collection

Space for the new acquisitions
Space for the objects from the exhibition space

Requirements

Collection management

person in charge
adapted and updated policies
documentation

Location to take out and where to place non

collection

Summary

Clear mission statement

Up to date collection policies
Museum object is an object with the NUMBER
Storage holds only COLLECTION
Non collection items has to be taken out
Always plan in advance