Hello all,

 

  This is becoming a somewhat contentious topic around the office lately so I thought I would through it out for wider consideration.   For the last 60 odd years items accepted in our museum were placed either in the permanent collection (one # system), the reserve collection (another # system and combination education/study/poor quality collection), the X collection (yes another # system, mostly accepted with intent to sell or as a political move), or what I am calling the permanent temporary collection, where things were given temporary numbers for up to 5 years before being dealt with again.

 

  The current staff is trying to revamp our acquisition procedures.  Permanent collection is a given, and we want to keep some sort of educational collection, for items that can travel to schools, be part of programs, etc.  But there is much talk about what to do with the other items.  How should we treat items we intend to dispose of in 1, 2, 5 years?  I'm uneasy about multiple numbering systems, but we can't accession and then deaccession things constantly.

 

  What sort of divisions/catagories do others have for holdings and/or potential acquisitions?  I'll be contacting local registrars/collection managers, but the more info and ideas I get the better.  Thanks!

 

Nikol