The idea of having a place separate from the historic house museum for
archive space is a great one. The thought of having more room - if
affordable - is usually a dream for any historic house. I would also
consider that fifteen minute walk to the new building becoming the office
for your administration and research rather than a room within the house.
The electricity would probably support the copier and a spare computer
better than some place in the house. You would probably have more room to
spread out there too.

If you have had an office in the historic house museum, consider converting
the room back to what ever it was before. Usually you have plenty of
material and artifacts from the period to do this. If the idea of
interpreting the new room is no good - oh, no, not another bedroom! - how
about making it into a "trophy" room as we have done at Mill House. We have
taken all our "prizes" that couldn't or wouldn't be integrated or usually
displayed within the house's rooms - maps, deeds, "the denization",
genealogy charts, pictures of the house in its past lives, etc. and put them
into a gallery setting in one room. This room, by the way, was added on
after the period set aside by our Historic Structures Report.  Maybe combine
a small gift shop in there.

As far as the staff going to the new site for to support someone's research,
you and I have done enough research to know that we are at the mercy of
smaller house museums and historical societies as to the use of their staff,
hours and facilities. And, as museum professionals we can certainly
sympathize with them. Set up your research hours for times that would be
convenient for both your staffing and the public and make the hours for
research well known. There might even be some volunteer who would consider
sitting in an office building, answering questions and telephones who might
not like the facilities in the house itself.

How great it must be to be able to afford and to have nearby some additional
space! Good luck.

Bill Maurer
Director
Gomez Mill House
www.gomez.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 10:25 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Archives in old houses


As our institution looks toward getting a good, secure, organized archive
room set up, we are torn between two ideas.  We are a historic house
museum, and as such are in an old structure whose timbers are from 90 to
200 years old.  We have a good integrated alarm system for fire and theft,
but no fire suppression system.  There is some climate control, though
that would be boosted if we were to move archives there.  From a practical
point of view, it seems logical to try to find a space within our physical
building to store archives and provide space for their use.  But there are
people worried about the fire risk of the building.

The other option is to rent a space 15 minutes walk away, in a modern
office building on the main street of the small coastal city we live in.
It has a sprinkler system, alarms, and better climate control - though as
things stand we wouldn't have control of the climate control.  We would
have security systems installed.  Either location would be fitted with
good cabinets and shelves suitable for archives, though I would explore
"fireproof" housing more deeply if the archives were to be in the museum.
Off-site would be a nuisance, as staff would have to suspend other work
any time outside researchers needed to use the archives, not to mention
the added risk of transferring papers back and forth for exhibit and
prolonged staff research.

So, any thoughts on the risks of keeping archives in a historic structure
but on our own property, as opposed to keeping them in a more modern
building with suppression integrated but less in our control and under our
oversite?  I appreciate any thoughts, however random!

Thanks,

Juliette Rogers
Collections Manager/Registrar
Stephen Phillips Trust House
Salem Mass.

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).