An annual collections audit begins routinely enough. The registrar’s staff is slowly checking off items on the inventory. Tucked in the corner of the vault, a shelf that should be home to six objects has only five. A quick database check shows that the missing sixth object is not on loan or on view; it should be safely nestled on shelf 24b.
Files are pulled, and notes poured over. What started as an audit slowly turns into a search exercise. After reviewing photos of the item, staff fans out to search nearby shelves. Luckily, the misplaced item is safely found in a neighboring storage room. Now the challenge is to reconstruct how it got there and whether the records accurately reflect its whereabouts and condition.
From large world-class museums to small local scientific institutions, scenarios like this are all-too-common for institutions and groups responsible for managing collections. Rarely are they caused by a lack of expertise or care. More often, they emerge when an institution lacks standardized collecting procedures and stewardship systems.
To help new and established collecting institutions develop collection policies, Collector Systems has partnered with Spectrum. Originally developed through United Kingdom and European collections partnerships, Spectrum is used within UK accreditation schemes and provides guidance for standardized collections management activities.
While Spectrum does not require software, we have integrated its guidance into our collections management system to ensure any collecting institution can standardize common activities and information for better collection stewardship.
Spectrum is flexible and adaptable for all collections–not just museums. Prompts on each of Spectrum’s 21 basic procedures within Collector Systems simplify the process of standardizing policies and information management. Consistent information not only creates operational continuity, it also empowers expanded uses of collection data and supports internal decision-making.
Why use guidance to create standardization? Clear policies and best practices regarding documentation and conditioning make onboarding and training new hires easier. Institution-wide standards regarding location tracking across departments improve accountability, while integrating all research, images, and text into your database simplifies curatorial and marketing preparations. If an emergency happens, not only will your staff know how to respond based on adopted policies, they will also be able to remotely access all necessary insurance, location, and valuation data with Collector System’s collection management system.
Each of Spectrum’s 21 procedures includes a definition, scope suggesting when to use the procedure, the Spectrum standard, policy considerations, and minimum requirements for accreditation. The prompts are a series of questions and considerations, presented in both text and workflow formats, intended to support you as you determine what fits your institutional and collection needs best.
The primary Spectrum procedures include object entry and registration, acquisition and accessioning, location and movement control, inventory, cataloguing, loans, object exit, documentation planning, and collections use. These procedures are supported by non-primary procedures, like conservation and collections care, conditioning, rights and reproduction, valuation, insurance and indemnity, emergency planning, damage and loss, collection review, deaccessioning and disposal, and auditing.
The Spectrum procedures can be tackled individually, but are also designed to be interconnected–so you might see prompts about how to approach loan documentation while addressing the object exit procedure. By utilizing the Spectrum integration within Collector Systems, you can simplify day-to-day workflows, encourage standardized data entry, make it easier to capture required collection information, support auditing and accountability, and increase visibility across departments.
Thoughtful and responsible stewardship is an ongoing endeavor. So whether you are part of a brand new institution just beginning to draw up your policies and procedures, or an established organization hoping to update your best practices–Spectrum can help guide you, and Collector Systems can help you put those practices into motion.
