A New Resource on Collections Management

We are always on the lookout for new resources in museum management. The newly released book by Angela Kipp, Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections - A Practical Guide for Museums, is a  step-by-step guide for those confronted with an unmanaged collection as well as a tool for those needing to tackle backlogs, accession a large collection or make sense of an inherited system. 

The author describes the guide as a good fit for small museums:

"From a first assessment of the situation to securing the collection physically, from the first sorting to a documentation and collections care strategy, from the first wave of tidying to a complete storage master plan, this book provides an overview of what to do and when to do it. It always keeps in mind that the museum professional in a small museum is limited in money, staff and time. It especially keeps in mind that staff at small museums has a variety of different tasks and can’t work on the collection continuously. Therefore it creates “logical exits”, steps at which it is safe to stop the collections work for a certain amount of time without risking that everything done so far was useless. Wherever possible, it points to useful references and available resources. Overall, it provides ideas on how to bring order into a mess and stay a sane and healthy project manager."

For more information on this new resource, this link will take you to a google docs form with more details. Have suggestions of your own for great resources? Let us know!