I am a graduate student in museum studies just getting started on my thesis
project on emergency planning for museums. The first part of my project
will entail helping my museum prioritize their collection. The curator and
registrar both have a pretty good handle on which objects are of the
highest priority, but I have a few questions I was hoping some people on
the listserv might have experience with:

   Is there a systematic method of discerning which objects are of the
   highest priority? I have been using the guidelines in the NPS Museum
   Handbook (pg. 10:36) as well as the Austrailian publication,
   Significance: A Guide to Assessing the Significance of Cultural Heritage
   Objects and Collections. I guess what I am asking is this - is
   prioritizing collections all about the value judgements by museum staff
   familiar with collections, or is there a more methodical way of
   assessing priorities?

   We are going to compile a tiered list of collection priorities - high,
   medium, and low priorities. Can anyone recommend how many objects should
   be in each of these tiered categories?

   Can anyone recommend any additional resources related to prioritizing
   collections?

   If anyone on the listserv has experience prioritizing museum collections
   I would love to have a conversation about your experience - please let
   me know if you'd be interested!


Thanks so much!

Molly E. Conley
Museum Technician
Yellowstone Heritage & Research Center
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
(307) 344-2262

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