Our general museum (art, history, and science) is currently undergoing strategic planning in an effort to formulate a long-range plan. My title is Curator of Collections, and my role in this is to create a long range plan for the Collections Department and the Exhibits Department and to help with the Education Department. My question is this. We already have an “Education Collection” which is part of the Collections Department. The Education department also has items that are used similarly but are not part of a “formalized collection”. Many of the items in both Departments are in essence the same type of items. In my mind these items can be used in a variety of ways… 1) Hands-on items in Exhibits 2) Lab Rats for trying various “Conservation methods” 3) Theatrical Props in museum Educational programs 4) Interior decorating items for Foyers, lobby, hall ways, bathroom walls, board room, dining room, research library, etc.) 5) Furniture We have a Prospective donation form that we fill out when a donor wants to give us an item(s) for our collection. Currently we give donors the option of 1) only for the permanent collection, 2) any collection we see fit (includes Education and permanent), 3) only for the Education collection, and we do not record antying that goes to the Education Dept items. Would you all give the donor this option? What name do you think is appropriate to call these items? Education, Prop, Study, Research, Conservation Collection? Should all of the items be put in one collection or various collections dependent on the intended use of the item? One of our staff is against recording any background information for these objects, as they contend that the object will be used up and the outcome does not warrant the effort. Another staff member is for recording donor info, brief description of the object and registering the object with an identification number. The former staff member thinks this is unnecessary. How much information do you folks record for these types f artifacts? Thank you in advance for all of your reactions! Steven Stewart [log in to unmask] ps more info for people who wish to contact me off the list. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).