Lisa,
Moving a collection, even a well planned one, can be a nightmare. The last two summers I supervised the move of about 100,000 objects from four areas into our new facility. It was not fun. However, it can be a great way to lose some of those extra pounds. I dropped 12 but,
unfortunately, they're back on.
Could you give us some more information?
How many objects are you moving?
Will you have plenty of time or will you be in a rush?
Does the new facility have plenty of room or are you going to have to fit 10lbs. of stuff into a 5lb. bag?
Will the objects in boxes stay in the boxes? If not, will the footprint of the shelved objects be more than the footprint of the box?
Do the people doing the move know what they are doing or will you have to train them?
And last but not least, have you ever done this before?
Let's see if we can help her out folks.
Jerry Fahey
Exhibits Designer
University Museum
S.I.U.E.


Lisa Dunbar wrote:

> Hi,
> I am starting a new job soon at a different museum.  My first major project
> will be to move the collection from one off-site storage area to another.
> I am looking for suggestions on how to go about doing this in an organized
> fashion.  I was thinking of labelling all of the shelving units
> (ex. "Kitchen 1" or "Tools 1") and that each box on that shelving unit
> should have the same designation (ex. "Kitchen 1 Box 1 of 20") so that I
> will know just where to put the box when moved to the new site.  Also,
> though there is currently no location code for the present storage area,
> each box has a list on it of all of the items within it, along with
> accession number.  Is it necessary that I do a complete inventory of every
> object in the collection at this time, or just count the boxes and
> inventory the larger objects that are not in boxes for purposes of moving?
> Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
> Lisa
>
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