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  • 1.  Use of artifacts

    Posted 04-30-2015 02:40 PM

    I know this may be one of those proverbial "bag of worms" but I'd like to know of any museum or historic site that has written policies for the physical use of accessioned objects in their collections.  As examples:  houses that maintain and run the clocks; steam engines that are fired up for interpretation; pianos played for concerts; phonographs wound up and records played, furniture used, etc.  If such policies exist, I'd like to get copies of them for review.

     

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    David Buchanan
    Curator
    Indiana State Museum
    Indianapolis IN
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    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 2.  RE: Use of artifacts

    Posted 05-01-2015 11:28 AM
    I forgot to add that Ron Potvin had a good article in History News, Autumn 2014, Volume 69, # 4, pp,. 11-16, on this question. There was also a tiering chart from Trevor Jones, Director of Museum Collections and Exhibitions at the Kentucky Historical Society that may be useful.

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    Martha Katz-Hyman
    Curator
    Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
    Williamsburg VA
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    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 3.  RE: Use of artifacts

    Posted 05-01-2015 11:35 AM

    Also check the website of the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM), under the "Publications" tab, for indexes of theirBulletin and Proceedings for articles that could be useful to you. This is an issue often discussed both formally and informally by ALHFAM members with regularity, so it shows up regularly as a topic of annual meeting sessions and Bulletin articles.

    The link is http://www.alhfam.org/?cat_id=96&nav_tree=96.


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    Martha Katz-Hyman
    Curator
    Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
    Williamsburg VA
    ------------------------------


    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 4.  RE: Use of artifacts

    Posted 05-01-2015 01:10 PM

    Hi, Dave

    While I was curator at the historic mining town of Virginia City, MT, we developed an 8-level system for object classification. The collections there are extensive and their placement and use complex--including objects exhibited in restaurants & hotels, historic music and arcade machines actively used by visitors, objects remaining year-round in unheated buildings, and others stored in a high-security controlled environment. This system set up policies for each level on access, use, conservation, intervention and where they were stored & exhibited. It's several pages; if you would email me directly at proath@montana.edu, I'd be happy to send it to you.

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    Pat Roath
    Registrar & Collections Mgr
    Museum of the Rockies
    Bozeman MT
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    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 5.  RE: Use of artifacts

    Posted 05-01-2015 01:26 PM
    I was the organizer and moderator of the AAM session this year "Not for Display Only: Demonstrating Collection Objects"  You should be able to access our handouts online if you attended AAM this year.  If you need presenters contact information let me know. They had some great information on creating policies.

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    Patricia Raynor
    Loan Coordinator
    National Postal Museum Smithsonian Institution
    Washington DC
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    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 6.  RE: Use of artifacts

    Posted 05-04-2015 05:39 PM
    Hello, David etal--The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (just up the street from you) has been preserving artifacts and specimens, in addition to using them in a hands-on manner, for close to 90 years.  They have tiered A-B-C levels that determine the extent and type of physical contact, object usage and exhibition.  I was there for 8 years as a curator, then 12 as Director of Collections.

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    Sheila Riley
    Museum Manager
    Children's Discovery Museum
    Normal IL
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    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 7.  RE: Use of artifacts

    Posted 05-07-2015 08:40 AM

    Thanks to all of you who responded.  It has been very helpful!

     

    David

    ------------------------------
    David Buchanan
    Curator
    Indiana State Museum
    Indianapolis IN
    ------------------------------


    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more