SPECTRUM: The UK Museum Documentation Standard ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This comprehensive new publication from the MDA has been developed in partnership with more than seventy contributors from over fifty museums and galleries across the British Isles. This edition is intended for use in all types of medium to large museums by the following: * Documentation specialists * Curators responsible for documentation policy SPECTRUM provides you with: * A statement of good practice for managing museum documentation, based on consensus within the museum community * Twenty procedures for documenting museum collections, from object creation to collection, acquisition to disposal * Descriptions and definitions of the units of information required to support the procedures Use SPECTRUM to: * Write procedures and cataloguing manuals for your museum * Establish your museum's information requirements for automated or paper based systems * Develop the documentation elements of your collections management policy * Agree performance indicators and quality service standards for documentation in your museum * Justify bids for resources to support documentation Also Available: SPECTRUM Essentials - A concise version of SPECTRUM intended for smaller museums. Quotations: "As a body committed to the raising of standards in museums, the MGC greatly welcomes SPECTRUM. It is a most important development for the museum community, and I am sure that the hard work and detailed thought from MDA staff and their many helpers in museums will pay handsome dividends in the years to come." PETER LONGMAN, DIRECTOR, MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES COMMISSION "The Department of National heritage welcomes this new initiative from the MDA. The Department is providing additional financial support to ensure that it is as accessible to as many museums as possible." PHILIP GREGORY, HEAD OF MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL HERITAGE "I am delighted with the MDA's achievement in co-ordinating and publishing SPECTRUM. It draws on contributions from many museum professionals: their time and effort have, I believe, been an investment which will be richly repaid. SPECTRUM will undoubtedly stand as a firm foundation for our documentation initiatives into the 21st century." RICHARD FOSTER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES ON MERSEYSIDE "A regular cornucopia of information; the right sort of food for the museum community at the right time. SPECTRUM has proved to be a horn of plenty for the LASSI project." MICK STANLEY, CHAIR, LASSI PROJECT TEAM Ordering SPECTRUM and SPECTRUM Essentials (overseas customers; all prices are Pounds Sterling): SPECTRUM: 65 plus postage SPECTRUM Essentials: 7.50 plus postage Overseas postage: 3 *************************************************************************** Tony Gill e-mail: [log in to unmask] Technical Outreach Manager Museum Documentation Association Lincoln House, 347 Cherry Hinton Road, Tel: +44 223 242848 Cambridge CB1 4DH, UK Fax: +44 223 213575 ***************************************************************************