Collections Stewardship

Collection Ranking: Making Deaccessions Work for You

Permalink: https://www.eventscribe.com/2019/AAMers/fsPopup.asp?mode=presInfo&PresentationID=490090

As museums grapple with perpetually growing holdings and shrinking storage space, they must confront the difficult task of collection review and refinement. History Colorado and the Indianapolis Museum of Art have created two similar but individualized approaches to assessing their collections, prioritizing objectives, and establishing deaccession goals. Examine how each institution bridged the gap between registration and curatorial departments and handled deaccessions, and learn how their collections have benefited.

Learning Objectives:

• Use the framework described in these two case studies to implement a collection refinement project based on your institutional needs.
• Utilize tips to bridge the gap between curatorial, registration, and collections staff and work toward a common goal of collection refinement.
• Conceptualize how a collection refinement project can lead to stronger collections and promote positive institutional change.

Presenter(s)

• 

  Melissa de Bie

  Director of Collections Access and Senior Registrar
  History Colorado
• 

  Alisa DiGiacomo

  Director of Curatorial Services and Senior Curator
  History Colorado
• 

  Robin Lawrence

  Manager of Curatorial Affairs
  Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
• 

  Jennifer Rigsby

  Associate Registrar for Collections
  Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields