Kelsey,

Well, the first thing is to assess the current state of collections
management there. Is everything catalogued and numbered? Are all
registration records current (do a random sampling of the collections to
check). Is storage and housing up to standards? Do they have a collections
management policy and long range plan? A long range conservation plan?  Is
there an up-to-date emergency - disaster plan? IPM plan? Environmental
monitoring? Are light sensitive objects being rotated regularly off
exhibition?

Self-assessment is the first thing to do. From that you can identify your
priorities.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Senior Conservator & Museum Consultant
Los Angeles CA  USA
www.cityofangelsconservation.weebly.com

On Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 9:49 AM, Kelsey Perrigo <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Hello everyone! I recently became the Collections Manager for a small
> museum. I have museum collections experience but this is my first time as
> collections manager and want to do the job correctly. The museum,
> thankfully, is in a newer building and the collections are relatively well
> cared for.
>
> What would you say are some of your first priorities when you begin a job
> as a collections manager?
>
> Also, the vast majority of our collections have strange accession numbers
> (i.e. P-287) and I was curious if that is something I should consider
> addressing immediately or if that is something to tackle at a later date.
> At the moment, everything is easily found in PastPerfect.
>
> Thanks!
> Kelsey
>
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