Programme overview
Introduction:
Museum management often splits into separate silos: curators plan exhibitions, registrars chase paperwork and nobody owns the condition of objects in store, so acquisitions arrive without provenance checks, loans leave without condition reports and light or damp quietly damages collections. This Core Concept course gives museum and heritage teams one working method for museum management and collections care, linking governance and mission to collections policy, preventive conservation, exhibitions, learning, income and performance measures. Participants produce a Collections Care and Exhibition Plan for their own institution.
Course Objectives:
- Align a museum's governance, mission statement and forward plan with the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums
- Draft a collections management policy covering acquisition, accessioning, documentation, loans, storage and deaccessioning
- Monitor light, relative humidity, temperature and pests and set preventive conservation routines for galleries and stores
- Prepare object condition reports and decide when to refer an object to a qualified conservator-restorer for remedial conservation or restoration
- Plan an exhibition from concept brief to installation, with interpretation, learning programmes and object safety built in
- Build income, partnership and performance measures that show the value of collections to funders and governing boards
Target Audience:
- Curatorial functions responsible for research, interpretation and the intellectual content of displays
- Registration and collections functions that manage object records, movements, loans and storage
- Conservation and collections care functions that maintain stores, monitor environments and handle objects
- Exhibition and design functions that plan, install and maintain permanent and temporary galleries
- Learning, engagement and visitor functions that run programmes for schools, families and adults
- Museum and heritage site management functions accountable for strategy, budgets and governing boards
Course Outline:
Day 1: Museum Governance, Mission and Ethics
- Museum Functions: Collect, Preserve, Research, Communicate and Exhibit
- Governing Body Roles, Delegations and Trustee Accountability
- Mission Statement, Vision and Forward Plan Drafting
- ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums: Due Diligence, Provenance and Restitution at Overview
- Institutional Self-Assessment Checklist Against Museum Standards
Day 2: Collections Management Policy and Documentation
- Acquisition Policy: Collecting Scope, Gifts, Purchases and Provenance Checks
- Accessioning Procedure: Entry Records, Object Number Allocation and Title Transfer
- Catalogue Record Fields: Identification, Provenance, Location and Exhibition History
- Incoming and Outgoing Loan Agreements, Facility Reports and Insurance Cover
- Deaccessioning Criteria, Approval Route and Disposal Records
Day 3: Preventive Conservation and Storage Practice
- ICOM-CC Terminology: Preventive Conservation, Remedial Conservation and Restoration
- Light Exposure Monitoring with Lux and Ultraviolet Meters and Display Rotation
- Relative Humidity and Temperature Logging with Data Loggers and Trend Charts
- Integrated Pest Management: Sticky Traps, Inspection Logs and Quarantine Rooms
- Storage Housing with Acid-Free Materials, Shelving Layout and Object Handling Rules
Day 4: Condition Risk, Exhibitions and Public Programmes
- Condition Report Template: Photographs, Damage Vocabulary and Stability Rating
- Referral Criteria for a Conservator-Restorer and Treatment Proposal Review
- Exhibition Planning Cycle: Concept Brief, Object List, Layout and Installation Schedule
- Interpretation Hierarchy: Labels, Panels, Multimedia and Accessible Formats
- Learning Programme Design and Collections Digitisation Priorities at Overview
Day 5: Collections Care and Exhibition Plan Case Study
- Income Generation Options: Memberships, Venue Hire, Retail and Sponsorship Agreements
- Partnership Models with Universities, Schools and Other Collecting Institutions
- Museum KPI Scorecard: Collection Records, Environmental Compliance and Audience Reach
- Case Study: Mixed Collection with Damp Store and Upcoming Loan Request
- Collections Care and Exhibition Plan Drafting and Peer Review
Skills You Will Gain:
- Museum Governance
- Collections Policy Writing
- Object Documentation
- Loan Administration
- Environmental Monitoring
- Integrated Pest Management
- Condition Assessment
- Exhibition Project Planning
Why Attend This Course:
- Return with a Collections Care and Exhibition Plan tested on a realistic case during the course
- Leave with draft policy wording for acquisition, loans and deaccessioning that can go to a governing body for approval
- Recognise early signs of light, damp, heat and pest damage before objects need costly treatment
- Compare collecting, conservation and exhibition practice with peers from art, history, science and heritage institutions
Conclusion:
Collections outlive the staff who care for them, so museum decisions need to be recorded, ethical and repeatable. The five days move from governance, mission and ethics, through collections policy and documentation, to preventive conservation, environmental monitoring and storage, then to condition reporting, conservator referral, exhibitions, interpretation and learning. The final day links income, partnerships and performance measures to collections care and closes with a Collections Care and Exhibition Plan built on a case study and reviewed by peers.