Cohesive Collections Planning

Authors:

• Allyson Alvis, Master of Arts in Museology
• Chair: Lane Eagles
• Dylan High
• Hollye Keister

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Abstract:

My project aimed to create a collections policy and additional resources to help volunteers manage collections for the small history museum run by Greater Kent Historical Society. To do this work, I consulted with both the museum director and a team of volunteers to understand what they needed before researching best collections management practices. I then distilled these ideas into three accessible documents that incorporated the museum’s existing policies and procedures. The first of these documents is a Collections Policy, which establishes policies and guidelines for the overall management and future development of museum collections. It covers big picture ideas and answers questions regarding the why, needs, and use of museum collections. The second is the Collections Procedures, which gives more detailed information on how to achieve the goals within the policy and manage collections day to day. The final document is the Supplementary Collections Guide. This guide provides information to help interpret the policy and procedures including a glossary, charts, graphs, and FAQ. The Guide can also be used to track decision making to ensure consistency and provides additional resources to help train volunteers in collections management and answer any questions not thoroughly covered in either of the other documents. The goal of this project is that not only can GKHS use these documents moving forward, but also that they can be shared with and adapted by other small history museums. For the purposes of thesis submission, these documents have been combined into one PDF.

Poster:

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Project Deliverable:

Cohesive Collections Planning

Video Presentation