CatalogIt Museum Tips

Collection Tips

Storing you Collection

The location, conditions, and containers you store your collection in directly affects the preservation of the objects. There are materials and conditions that are best suited to protecting you collection. Proper preservation can be costly, but maintaining your collection for the foreseeable future is priceless.

Location

The best place to store a collection is in a room away from consistent direct lights (windows, overhead lighting) that has temperature and humidity control. We understand that this type of room is not available to everyone, so find a room that has minimal light and that has stable humidity and temperature. Just make sure to avoid places with drastic swings in the climate like basements, sheds, and garages.

Shelving

Museum and archival quality storage shelving is usually made of steel that has been powder-coated with epoxy, polyester, or acrylic. Avoid rusty steel shelves and older ones that have a baked enamel coating, as they can release gasses dangerous to your objects. Try and avoid using wood shelving, especially for fragile objects, as they naturally emit organic acids and peroxides that will deteriorate the contents they shelve.

Containers

When storing large objects, they can be kept safely on a shelf or platform in a room that follows the location requirements above. Some smaller objects and paper materials are best stored in a container.

Museum quality containers are made of non-reactive materials, meaning they do not emit any gasses that can deteriorate the objects they contain. Look for containers that are alkaline-buffered, acid free, and have a neutral pH. These types of products are usually referred to as “Archival.” These containers can be costly, and should be a priority for protecting your collection. Not every organization can afford these so, if non-archival containers must be used, consider wrapping every object with acid-free buffering tissue paper.

Avoid storing objects in airtight containers, like plastic bins, can protect objects from leaks, but these tubs can actually capture and hold moisture, damaging the contents.

Collection Related Articles

• Conducting a Collections Inventory with CatalogIt
• Numbering Museum Objects and Personal Collections
• Cataloging your Collections Backlog
• Completing the Story: Using Relationships in CatalogIt
• Managing Valuation, Appraisal, and Insurance in CatalogIt
• Cataloging Archives and Ephemera
• Ethnography Profile
• Key Considerations for Analog and Digital Image Collections
• No Data No Rocks

Acquisition Tips

Acquisitions are objects obtained by a museum. Not all acquisitions need to be cataloged. Any acquisition that the museum intends on adding to their permanent collection and cataloging needs to be accessioned.

Accessioning is the formal process of adding a acquisition to the museum's permanent collection. To learn about what what distinguishes the two see our blogpost Acquisition v. Accession. Also see our CatalogIt Basics on Accessioning.

Acquisition Related Articles

• Accessioning Museum Collections
• Deaccessioning Museum Collections
• Processing Incoming Loans
• Processing Outgoing Loans
• A Tale of Two Loans: Unexpected Complications
• Acquisitions
• Using CatalogIt to Track Temporary Custody of Obejcts
• Recording Provenance for Your Collection
• The Importance of Provenance: Managing Unsolicited Gifts at Small Museums
• Processing Donations and Year End Gifts

Sharing and Web Publishing Tips

Related Articles

• Web Publishing for Collections Access
• Digital Imaging Guidelines
• Alt Text Made Easy: Using AI to Create Description
• Sharing your Collection through Printing and Reports
• Bring your Collections to the Web
• Connecting with your Community through Collections
• Print or Email - Sharing your Information with you Community

• Creating Exhibition Labels with CatalogIt
• Tracking Museum Exhibitions

• Creating Efficiencies with QR Codes in CatalogIt