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Inventory (museums)
An inventory is an itemized list of objects that a museum has accessioned or received via loan(s) and must be physically located by an examiner. A complete, one-hundred percent inventory, or a random inventory of the collection should be carried out periodically to ensure the museum is operating under best practices and for security purposes. The museum is legally responsible and ethically obligated for the maintenance of up-to-date information detailing the location of all objects within the collection, including loaned items and objects that have yet to be accessioned; this is stipulated by many museum associations, including the American Association of Museums.
The American Association of Museums published its "Code of Ethics for Museum Workers" in 1925 which presaged the creation of training courses for the appropriate management of museum collections. The first rules for the registration of museum objects was published in 1958, the work of Dorothy H. Dudley, of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Irma Bezold, of the Metropolitan Museum.
The upkeep of the collections' inventory record is needed for minimum collections accountability. Inventories provide the collections manager and or the registrar with information for insurance purposes, security, and alerts staff to possible conservation or preservation needs of the collection.
The completion and upkeep of and an inventory system helps to deter and aid in the early detection of theft of the collection. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) urges museums to complete and maintain their inventory systems because "If a museum does not know what is in its collection, where the works are located, and the condition they are in, it, in effect, invites theft because it will have no immediate sense that an object has disappeared, and most important, it will have no descriptive information to aid the recovery of an object in the event of a theft."
The type of inventory system used by a museum will be dictated by the Collections Management Policy (CMP). The CMP will determine how often items, what items, and how many items are to be inventory. Museums need to periodically complete a one-hundred percent inventory of their collection, but for the period in between the completion of such an inventory, a random sampling of the collection is sufficient. A random sampling of the collection serves as an indicator for the rest of the collection. If all the items are accounted for in a random sampling, then it can be assumed that rest of the collections' records is just as reliable. However, a complete inventory provides the institution with the knowledge that the entire collection can be accounted for; the random sampling is used to check the consistency of the collections' records.
An ongoing inventory method is a system that inventories on a regular basis high value items or items that are more susceptible to theft. This method resembles an iceberg, with the high value items being at the top of the iceberg. As the inventory method progresses further down the iceberg, items of lesser value can be found. Items found toward the center of the iceberg, need to be inventoried less than those found higher up on the berg, and more than items found below its position. Items at the lowest position of the iceberg, below the water's surface, may only need to be inventoried annually. With this type of inventory system, the most important or most valued objects are accounted for on a regular basis.
Inventories serve several purposes, including the opportunity for review of the collections department. Such review includes:
An inventory provides a systematic review of the collections department's records and helps to identify any problems. How smoothly an inventory goes is actually a reflection upon the institution. If an inventory is completed with little or no issues, then the collections department is running well; however, if many issues arise during the inventory process, this may be indicative of a collections department in need of review and change.
Every museum must complete an inventory on a regular basis and this requirement should be stated in the museum's CMP. The CMP should also outline the steps that need to be carried out in the inventory process, including:
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Inventory (museums)
An inventory is an itemized list of objects that a museum has accessioned or received via loan(s) and must be physically located by an examiner. A complete, one-hundred percent inventory, or a random inventory of the collection should be carried out periodically to ensure the museum is operating under best practices and for security purposes. The museum is legally responsible and ethically obligated for the maintenance of up-to-date information detailing the location of all objects within the collection, including loaned items and objects that have yet to be accessioned; this is stipulated by many museum associations, including the American Association of Museums.
The American Association of Museums published its "Code of Ethics for Museum Workers" in 1925 which presaged the creation of training courses for the appropriate management of museum collections. The first rules for the registration of museum objects was published in 1958, the work of Dorothy H. Dudley, of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Irma Bezold, of the Metropolitan Museum.
The upkeep of the collections' inventory record is needed for minimum collections accountability. Inventories provide the collections manager and or the registrar with information for insurance purposes, security, and alerts staff to possible conservation or preservation needs of the collection.
The completion and upkeep of and an inventory system helps to deter and aid in the early detection of theft of the collection. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) urges museums to complete and maintain their inventory systems because "If a museum does not know what is in its collection, where the works are located, and the condition they are in, it, in effect, invites theft because it will have no immediate sense that an object has disappeared, and most important, it will have no descriptive information to aid the recovery of an object in the event of a theft."
The type of inventory system used by a museum will be dictated by the Collections Management Policy (CMP). The CMP will determine how often items, what items, and how many items are to be inventory. Museums need to periodically complete a one-hundred percent inventory of their collection, but for the period in between the completion of such an inventory, a random sampling of the collection is sufficient. A random sampling of the collection serves as an indicator for the rest of the collection. If all the items are accounted for in a random sampling, then it can be assumed that rest of the collections' records is just as reliable. However, a complete inventory provides the institution with the knowledge that the entire collection can be accounted for; the random sampling is used to check the consistency of the collections' records.
An ongoing inventory method is a system that inventories on a regular basis high value items or items that are more susceptible to theft. This method resembles an iceberg, with the high value items being at the top of the iceberg. As the inventory method progresses further down the iceberg, items of lesser value can be found. Items found toward the center of the iceberg, need to be inventoried less than those found higher up on the berg, and more than items found below its position. Items at the lowest position of the iceberg, below the water's surface, may only need to be inventoried annually. With this type of inventory system, the most important or most valued objects are accounted for on a regular basis.
Inventories serve several purposes, including the opportunity for review of the collections department. Such review includes:
An inventory provides a systematic review of the collections department's records and helps to identify any problems. How smoothly an inventory goes is actually a reflection upon the institution. If an inventory is completed with little or no issues, then the collections department is running well; however, if many issues arise during the inventory process, this may be indicative of a collections department in need of review and change.
Every museum must complete an inventory on a regular basis and this requirement should be stated in the museum's CMP. The CMP should also outline the steps that need to be carried out in the inventory process, including: