You pose a question that every large institution struggles with.
There are no easy answers, but your list of questions lays out the
difficulties very nicely.

When I worked at Mystic Seaport one of my principal tasks was to
figure out a way to coordinate access to museum, archive, and library
collections.  Most museums separate the functions, as we did, because
the care and cataloging of the materials are so different. From a
collections management perspective, this is ideal. And before
computers, it was the only sensible approach.

But with computer systems providing "uniform" access, trying to find
one system which will enable access and reconcile the very different
cataloging practices of the three disciplines is very difficult.

Most larger museums seem to be retaining the traditional divisions by
type of collection and inventing ways for the computer to solve the
access problem.  This is what Mystic Seaport is doing.  Leah Prescott
there is very good on these kinds of issues.
mailto:[log in to unmask]

Tackling the problem head-on is an even more interesting problem.
Perhaps the answer depends on how the institution sees itself serving
the public.  If its roles are primarily collecting and research
access, the traditional separation will likely be best as specialized
systems can be used and researchers will know how to use the
collections.  If the museum seeks to be more active as a
"storytelling" institution, it would make sense to organize the
collections thematically.  This would require some kind of
cross-discipline cataloging, but might encourage broader public
access to collections by people interested in particular stories the
collections illustrate.  Some hybrid of these two is the most likely
solution.

Your move gives you a wonderful opportunity to experiment with new
approaches.  Good luck!

Guy


Guy Hermann, Museum Planner
----------------------------
E. Verner Johnson & Associates
Museum Architects & Planners
p: 617-437-6262
f: 617-437-1272
mailto:[log in to unmask]

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