At the Homestead Museum, with both use historic and reproduction
artifacts to "accurately" furnish an historic house. We've tried all
the methods discussed, but found they all had serious problems. Not
numbering the objects later led to a confusion over what was historic
and what was reproduction ("this looks old--did we forget to catalogue
this object?"). Using a prefix, such as an E or R, and a separate
catalogue resulted in additional work to locate a particular object for
exhibition or use ("I could have sworn we had a pressed glass bowl;
where is it?"). And the separate catalog was usually not as detailed to
be of much use ("now that the bowl is broken, where do we find a
replacement?").
We now catalog everything, historic and reproduction objects, together
in the same catalogue using the same numbering system. We've decided,
however, that reproduction objects valued under $10 are not catalogued
at all and are simply marked "Prop" or "Reproduction" (e.g., color
copies of magazines, pencils, etc.). Thus we can locate objects much
more easily for exhibits and programs, manage repair and replacement
easier, and track them for inventories. We do, however, distinguish
objects based on their fragility or value, thus creating a three-tiered
system of "Curator's supervision", "staff supervision", and "no
supervision". The "no supervision" items are kept separate from the
rest of the collection so that they can be easily and quickly accessed
for demonstrations and hands-on activities without worries.
I know this will be heresy to many curators, but I don't think we should
treat the catalog as if it were a special collection--it is simply a
tool to help us manage the collection. Most libraries, for example,
catalog all their items with the same system (e.g., LC or Dewey
classifications) and distinguish items only to show if they are located
in a different area (e.g., folios, children's, fiction, rare). A single
catalog simplifies access, standardizes procedures, and improves
management of our resources.
--
M. A. van Balgooy
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Chaffey Communities Cultural Center & Cooper Regional History Museum
PO Box 772 Upland, CA 91785-0772
Telephone (909) 982-8010
Website: http://www.culturalcenter.org
Homestead Museum
15415 East Don Julian Road Industry, CA 91745-1029
Telephone (626) 968-8492 NEW AREA CODE!
Fax (626) 968-2048
Website: http://www.homesteadmuseum.org
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