Sydney Smith Fall 2024 Collections Manager Intern ePortfolio
Collection Metadata
Title
Sydney Smith Fall 2024 Collections Manager Intern ePortfolio
Description
The following describes an internship at the Casper College Library's Archives and Special Collections. The focus of the internship includes the planning and preparing of the GLAM exhibit—the research and application of ownership for Collection Management. Combining these topics creates a role delineation statement for the Collection Management Intern.
1. The beginning of the internship focused on the GLAM exhibit. The exhibit revolved around patterns, order, and chaos. The planning began with the research of the Collection with the archives. This included the Marialyce Tobin travelogs and objects and the Edness Mokler photo albums.
These records need to be documented, including the name and description. Where it's from. What is the provenance and historical background? How it should be cared for, what the materials are, and how it should be handled. How should it be stored/displayed? What is its current location more spasticity where the object/ record is at any given time? These are all taken into consideration.
The next step was to start building up the posible items in the exhibit. What connections between the West Central Wyoming Collection, Edness Moklerls photo albums, and Marialyce Tobin's travel collection?
These records need to be documented, including the name and description. Where it's from. What is the provenance and historical background? How it should be cared for, what the materials are, and how it should be handled. How should it be stored/displayed? What is its current location more spasticity where the object/ record is at any given time? These are all taken into consideration.
The next step was to start building up the posible items in the exhibit. What connections between the West Central Wyoming Collection, Edness Moklerls photo albums, and Marialyce Tobin's travel collection?
2. The decision around ownership is evolving and growing day by day. In the current social-political climate, having an understanding and respect for these concerns is nonnegotiable. Due diligence can be defined as the requirement that every step is taken to establish the facts of the artifact before jumping into the course of action. This is precisely the case when identifying the source and history of an item is loaded or acquainted. Not doing so can result in the museum, archives, or collection organization gaining a poor reputation, which is essential when running or participating in fundraising or attracting loans.
3. The role of a Collection Management Intern is to assist in the care, preservation, and organization of objects and records in institutions like museums, libraries, and archives. The role of Collection Management combines the aspects of Archivist and Museum Curator. It's not usually the norm for archives to display their records in an exhibit format, as their main tasks are to organize and protect historical documents and records. After addressing a pretty serious backlog, the repository has identified the power of adopting exhibit-based (online and physical) practices for processing and increasing access to materials at greater levels. Staff have reflected that if not for the insight and research of interns, these practices would not have been combined in such a fashion and collections would not have been put to such great uses.
Archives work with different formats, such as print/digital records, photographs, videos, maps, and objects. In contrast, a museum curator is more responsible for creating collections, exhibits, and other artifacts displayed in an exhibit. This affects the experience visitors have with the exhibit. Some tasks within this role include documentation, storage, and, in this case, exhibit and display. There are also more conceptual teachings for Collection Management Interns, such as ethical considerations and identifying the preservation needs of materials.
Documentation, at its most basic level, considers what the object is - its name and description, where it's from - provenance and historical background, how it should be cared for - its materials, how it should be handled, how it would be stored/ displayed. Its current location - where the object/record is at any given time. There are different types of documentation that this repository relies on, but all support the discoverability and use of materials by a wide range of users as well as the ongoing administrative needs of those caring for and providing access to them.
Storage and Movement: there are multiple things to take into consideration when discussing the storage of the collection. Sound construction, wind and water resistance, easy access, sufficient security, environmental stability, and stability in general. With materials being used more and more to complement wider institutional programming via exhibits, being able to document the movement of materials and the frequency with which they are used in exhibits well is acknowledge as a key priority. This has resulted in the creation of an exhibit-based registrar that also informs the interpretation of both artefactual and informational materials via a thematic interpretation such as was the case with GLAM 2024.
Exhibitions or displays are an excellent way for a museum/collecting institution to share its collections. This particular repository is also in the process of building it's identify as an archives-museum and is examining ongoing conversations highlighting the similarities between the two types of institutions and the professionals that work within them. Ongoing conversations reflect on how they have been professionally siloed at times. To start assisting the repository with forming this dual identity, some of the work of this internship has been to come up with a research-based role delineation for a Collections Manager Intern that expands the scope of meaningful work that interning students can perform as outlined above. To contribute to the meaningful work of future interns, adding Ownership and Collections Management considerations to the published exhibit planning framework the repository has been using was seen as a necessity too. What follows is a summation of the updated exhibit planning framework.
Documentation, at its most basic level, considers what the object is - its name and description, where it's from - provenance and historical background, how it should be cared for - its materials, how it should be handled, how it would be stored/ displayed. Its current location - where the object/record is at any given time. There are different types of documentation that this repository relies on, but all support the discoverability and use of materials by a wide range of users as well as the ongoing administrative needs of those caring for and providing access to them.
Storage and Movement: there are multiple things to take into consideration when discussing the storage of the collection. Sound construction, wind and water resistance, easy access, sufficient security, environmental stability, and stability in general. With materials being used more and more to complement wider institutional programming via exhibits, being able to document the movement of materials and the frequency with which they are used in exhibits well is acknowledge as a key priority. This has resulted in the creation of an exhibit-based registrar that also informs the interpretation of both artefactual and informational materials via a thematic interpretation such as was the case with GLAM 2024.
Exhibitions or displays are an excellent way for a museum/collecting institution to share its collections. This particular repository is also in the process of building it's identify as an archives-museum and is examining ongoing conversations highlighting the similarities between the two types of institutions and the professionals that work within them. Ongoing conversations reflect on how they have been professionally siloed at times. To start assisting the repository with forming this dual identity, some of the work of this internship has been to come up with a research-based role delineation for a Collections Manager Intern that expands the scope of meaningful work that interning students can perform as outlined above. To contribute to the meaningful work of future interns, adding Ownership and Collections Management considerations to the published exhibit planning framework the repository has been using was seen as a necessity too. What follows is a summation of the updated exhibit planning framework.
References
Blacklock, Mark. "Refusing to Return Artifacts, British Still Clings to Its Colonial." Global Times. November 29, 2023. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202311/1302722.shtml
Britannica Academic, s.v. "Acropolis Museum," accessed December 3, 2024. https://academic-eb-com.casper.idm.oclc.org/levels/collegiate/article/Acropolis-Museum/475179.
Cuno, James B. Who Owns Antiquity?: Museums and the Battle Over Our Ancient Heritage Princeton University Press, 2008.
Folk, Zachary. "British Museum Lends Ghana Looted Gold Artifacts—Here’s Why It Won’t Fully Return Them." Forbes. January 25, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2024/01/25/british-museum-lends-ghana-looted-gold-artifacts-heres-why-it-wont-fully-return-them/
Freda Matassa. Museum Collections Management : A Handbook. London: Facet Publishing, 2011. https://search-ebscohost-com.casper.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=558446&site=ehost-live.
Hunter, Ayanna. "Cultural Artifacts Must Be Repatriated, Here's Why." Francis Lewis News. November 12, 2022. https://flhsnews.com/9399/opinion/cultural-artifacts-must-be-repatriated-heres-why/
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. https://eca.state.gov/files/bureau/unesco01.pdf
Blacklock, Mark. "Refusing to Return Artifacts, British Still Clings to Its Colonial." Global Times. November 29, 2023. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202311/1302722.shtml
Britannica Academic, s.v. "Acropolis Museum," accessed December 3, 2024. https://academic-eb-com.casper.idm.oclc.org/levels/collegiate/article/Acropolis-Museum/475179.
Cuno, James B. Who Owns Antiquity?: Museums and the Battle Over Our Ancient Heritage Princeton University Press, 2008.
Folk, Zachary. "British Museum Lends Ghana Looted Gold Artifacts—Here’s Why It Won’t Fully Return Them." Forbes. January 25, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2024/01/25/british-museum-lends-ghana-looted-gold-artifacts-heres-why-it-wont-fully-return-them/
Freda Matassa. Museum Collections Management : A Handbook. London: Facet Publishing, 2011. https://search-ebscohost-com.casper.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=558446&site=ehost-live.
Hunter, Ayanna. "Cultural Artifacts Must Be Repatriated, Here's Why." Francis Lewis News. November 12, 2022. https://flhsnews.com/9399/opinion/cultural-artifacts-must-be-repatriated-heres-why/
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. https://eca.state.gov/files/bureau/unesco01.pdf
Creator
Sydney Smith, Fall 2024
