MS103: The Basics of Museum Registration
Instructor: Peggy Schaller
Dates: July 11 - August 5, 2005
Price: $350

The Northern States Conservation Center (http://www.collectioncare.org) is pleased to announce the return of one of its building-block courses:  The Basics of Museum Registration at www.museumclasses.org.  This course covers the basics of museum record keeping. The mission statement is emphasized as the foundation for the museum. Then students learn of the importance of establishing set policies and procedures. The terms 'registration' and 'accession' will be defined and the process discussed. Three common types of numbering systems will be reviewed and the answer to the question "Why do museums put those little bitty numbers on all their artifacts?" will be revealed. Finally, The Museum Registration Manual, its importance for the museum and what it should contain will be reviewed.

Participants will be asked to create a mission statement, collection policy and acquisition policy for a 'new' museum; comment on one of the selected readings about museum missions; complete an accessioning exercise; and for the final class project create a sample registration manual for our 'new' museum.

Class Outline:
1.      Introduction
2.      The Museum Mission Statement
3.      Accessioning and Numbering
4.      Registration Manual
5.      Conclusion

The course format is self-paced through 5 sections. The instructor will be available at predetermined intervals throughout the course. Students will be working individually and interact through forums and scheduled on-line chats. Materials include web versions of reading materials and lecture notes. Supporting resources include message forums, weekly online chats, email support, projects, quizzes, and links to relevant websites.

The course will last for four weeks and cover all the details needed to begin processing a collection. This course will include handouts, on-line literature, slide lectures, and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited to 20 participants.

If you are interested in the course, please sign up at www.museumclasses.org and pay for the course at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html.  If you have trouble with either, please contact Helen Alten at [log in to unmask]

Here is a student comment:
"I thought the powerpoint was great and that the resources (readings etc) kind of applied the stuff we learned to real life. I definitely think I got a good survey of the registration process. I liked the exercise where we chose the different items we would have in the museum. That one was hard because I didn't always know how to justify something I wanted or didn't want. It was a good exercise. I really had to spend some time on it. I was even asking my family at the dinner table and we were all talking about what we would keep and what we wouldn't!
I would definitely take another class." - Student in MS103


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