Museum Registration Methods by Rebecca A. Buck

One the most important museum practices within the ideal stated above is to ensure that all prospective objects presented for acquisition review have documented legal title which shows that the object was legally obtained by the donor.

Quotation from the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Code of Ethics for Museums, Section 2. Inherent in this public trust is the notion of stewardship that includes rightful ownership, permanence, documentation, accessibility, and responsible disposal. Their collections are a significant public inheritance, have a special position in law and are protected by international legislation. Museums have the duty to acquire, preserve, and promote their collections as a contribution to safeguarding the natural, cultural, scientific heritage. This dichotomy between these interior- and exterior-focused perspectives creates a tension that has proven challenging to keep separate and pure, leading to unfortunate consequences. They understood that sharing would, in the long-term, create greater pleasure and impact than possessing the object privately ever could. These museum founders realized that preserving objects for future generations and allowing these objects to tell important stories about human artistic, scientific or cultural endeavors and humanity’s place in the natural world was a noble enterprise. Many museums today had their origins as private collections, but something changed in those collector’s mindsets that put them on the course to embrace the public good. They may purchase objects as a form of financial investment or to have the gratification of possessing unique items and displaying them to demonstrate their artistic sensitivities and sophistication or just to impress.įor museums, the focus should be outward. Private collectors focus inward and act for their own personal interests and pleasure. Beyond this, however, the similarities should and do differ, at least on paper, because of the underlying motivation for collecting. On the surface, museums and private collectors have shared aims both love to collect objects of interest and to flaunt their best finds.

Museum Registration Methods by Rebecca A. Buck