You pose a question that every large institution struggles with. There are no easy answers, but your list of questions lays out the difficulties very nicely. When I worked at Mystic Seaport one of my principal tasks was to figure out a way to coordinate access to museum, archive, and library collections. Most museums separate the functions, as we did, because the care and cataloging of the materials are so different. From a collections management perspective, this is ideal. And before computers, it was the only sensible approach. But with computer systems providing "uniform" access, trying to find one system which will enable access and reconcile the very different cataloging practices of the three disciplines is very difficult. Most larger museums seem to be retaining the traditional divisions by type of collection and inventing ways for the computer to solve the access problem. This is what Mystic Seaport is doing. Leah Prescott there is very good on these kinds of issues. mailto:[log in to unmask] Tackling the problem head-on is an even more interesting problem. Perhaps the answer depends on how the institution sees itself serving the public. If its roles are primarily collecting and research access, the traditional separation will likely be best as specialized systems can be used and researchers will know how to use the collections. If the museum seeks to be more active as a "storytelling" institution, it would make sense to organize the collections thematically. This would require some kind of cross-discipline cataloging, but might encourage broader public access to collections by people interested in particular stories the collections illustrate. Some hybrid of these two is the most likely solution. Your move gives you a wonderful opportunity to experiment with new approaches. Good luck! Guy Guy Hermann, Museum Planner ---------------------------- E. Verner Johnson & Associates Museum Architects & Planners p: 617-437-6262 f: 617-437-1272 mailto:[log in to unmask] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. 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).