Collections Management

What did I learn?

Doing collection records
Learning about registration and doing it
Managing temporary deposits
What acquisition sources and methods there were
What exactly accessioning was
Types of artefact locations and inventory records
How to do artefact cataloguing
Describing and photo-documenting artefacts
Managing loans
Deaccessioning and disposing of artefacts
Collections management policies
How copyright affects museums
Databases and digitisation
Appraisals and tax receipts
Certification of cultural property
Collections access for the public and Indigenous peoples
Types of insurance
The repatriation and facilitating access to Indigenous collections for Indigenous peoples, and managing specialised collections

These pieces of information allowed us to learn the best practices in documentation – both in paper and digitally – for museums. It also broadened my horizons in how people interact both socially and legally with these artefacts. For some of our practicums, we filled out catalogues for our mini-exhibit object, and another museum artefact. Additionally, I was able to write an accession number on a museum artefact, and then fill out the documentation and research for it. That way, the museum would have more information about my object in its database.

What did I do?

Quizzes and tests
Doing a collections inventory
Adding accession numbers to both samples and artefacts in the Peterborough Museum and Archives (PMA)
Do artefact documentation
Do data cleaning, data enrichment, and recommendations for my NovaMuse Partnership Project
A PMA data entry on my artefact
An Ignite plan and presentation

For the NovaMuse project, I got to work with the Wallace Area Museum to look over 10 of their artefacts. By looking at those 10 artefacts, I could mention what they did well, and what information still needed to be added. Of those 10 artefacts, I then selected one of them to do more research on so the museum could add it to their database.