Collections Care and Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for Museums

by Juilee Decker (Editor)

Overview

Collections Care and Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for Museums considers best practices and innovations related to documenting collections with regard to movement and safe handling of items for transport, display, photography, and treatment; collections storage; and information-sharing within and beyond the museum.

The case studies in this volume examine best practices and innovations related to collections with regard to display, interpretation, engagement, storage, conservation treatment, and preservation. Several chapters address undergraduate and graduate coursework and internship experiences in a variety of contexts to offer best practices as well as evaluation of such training opportunities. All of these case studies ask us to think about the responsibilities that we have, as museum professionals, to be stewards—a challenge for all of us in terms of the obligations and responsibilities therein, but also in terms of the challenge to frame our collections as having the capacity to reflect as well as inspire.

The Innovative Approaches for Museums series offers case studies, written by scholars and practitioners from museums, galleries, and other institutions, that showcase the original, transformative, and sometimes wholly re-invented methods, techniques, systems, theories, and actions that demonstrate innovative work being done in the museum and cultural sector throughout the world. The authors come from a variety of institutions—in size, type, budget, audience, mission, and collection scope. Each volume offers ideas and support to those working in museums while serving as a resource and primer, as much as inspiration, for students and the museum staff and faculty training future professionals who will further develop future innovative approaches.

Contributions by: Jennifer Schwarz Ballard, Terry A. Barnhart, Rebecca E. Bria, Marlena Cannon de Mendez, Robert P. Connolly, Mary Coughlin, Elizabeth K. Cruzado Carranza, Katherine A. Johnson, Michael Jones, Allison McCloskey, Nicolette B. Meister, Carrie Wieners Meyer, Eileen Prendergast, Marjorie Schwarzer, Glori Simmons, Shari Stout, and Kelly Tomajko

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442238794
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/15/2015
Series:	Innovative Approaches for Museums
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Juilee Decker is an associate professor of Museum Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where she teaches courses focusing on museums and technology so as to bring theory and praxis together in the classroom environment. Decker earned her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. Her research interests and curation include the construction of public and private collections as well as the subjects of public art, commemoration, and memory. Decker’s recent curatorial activity includes “A Passionate Pursuit: The Milward Collection,” an exhibition addressing the formation of a private collection of more than 1000 works of art (2012); “Reflections on a Louisville Landmark,” a juried show and an exhibition of historic maps, photographs, and texts for the Louisville Visual Art Association; and “Virginia Woolf and the Natural World,” an international exhibition to coincide with the 20th annual Wolf conference (2010). She has worked as a public art consultant and advisor for more than 15 years and has managed several public and private collections of public art. Since 2008, she has served as editor of Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, a peer-reviewed journal published by Rowman and Littlefield.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Juilee Decker

Chapter 1: An Outdoor Museum Perspective on Education and Audience Engagement
Katherine A. Johnson, Eileen Prendergast, and Jennifer Schwarz Ballard, Chicago Botanic Garden
Chapter 2: Collection Preservation Facilities: One Approach to Sustainable Design, Construction, and Operations
Kelly Tomajko, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Chapter 3: A Window on the Work: PreVIEW at the Denver Art Museum
Allison McCloskey, Denver Art Museum
Chapter 4: The Increase & Diffusion of Collections Care Knowledge: A Partnership
Mary Coughlin and Shari Stout, The George Washington University and the National Museum of American History
Chapter 5: Contextualizing Collections Management in Academic Museums
Nicolette B. Meister, Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College
Chapter 6: Collection Curriculum: Caring for Objects, Educating Students
Carrie Wieners Meyer, The Durham Museum
Chapter 7: Divergent Agendas and Dobles Vidas: A Folk Art Curating Partnership between University of San Francisco & The Mexican Museum
Marjorie Schwarzer with Glori Simmons and Marlena Cannon de Mendez, University of San Francisco & The Mexican Museum
Chapter 8: Co-Creation & Sustainable Community Engagement
Robert P. Connolly, Rebecca E. Bria, Elizabeth K. Cruzado Carranza, C. H. Nash Museum and PIARA (Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológico Regional Ancash)
Chapter 9: Common Cause: Challenges in Museum Studies & Public History
Terry A. Barnhart, Eastern Illinois University
Chapter 10: Joining the Dots: Building Connections within GLAM Organizations
Michael Jones, The University of Melbourne

Index
About the Contributors
About the Editor

Editorial Reviews

This installment, focusing on collections care and stewardship, presents a diverse series of case studies ranging from building projects to student involvement with collections and exhibit development, all focused on how to manage the intersection of museum theory and actual museum practice…. [A]ll the of case studies presented in the volume provide an interesting, engaging, and innovative look at collections stewardship, unique partnerships, exhibit development, planning, and student engagement with museums.

Museum Anthropology Review

Whether working in exhibitions, education, or collections management, museum professionals need to constantly update our ideas about what constitutes best practices. This book features valuable case studies related to current issues in museum and archival collections that pose creative solutions to issues confounding our field. Several authors outline the ways in which their projects trained student participants and how critical their participation was to the project’s success.

Kym Rice

As an educator, it was extremely useful to see innovative practices of co-creation, public engagement, and student learning in the collections and preservation activities of museums, both small and large. The volume’s authors seriously address ways in which collections care and curation can be more transparent to our visitors and communities, bringing collections activities into the learning ecosystem of a museum.

Mike Murawski

As an educator, it was extremely useful to see innovative practices of co-creation, public engagement, and student learning in the collections and preservation activities of museums, both small and large. The volume’s authors seriously address ways in which collections care and curation can be more transparent to our visitors and communities, bringing collections activities into the learning ecosystem of a museum.

Michael Murawski