Museum Registration Methods

Abstract

FOREWORDMUSEUM REGISTRATION METHODS had its origins in discussions among registrarsnat annual meetings of the American Association of Museums.nWhile some registrars had had long experience in registering museumnaccessions and loans, there was little written information available for those whonwere new to the museum field or whose museums were beginning new loannactivities. The need for a manual to describe procedures for registering andncataloguing museum accessions and loans became amplified in the years followingnthe Second World War, as large collections of European art were brought to thenUnited States for exhibition while their museums were being repaired. More artnwas traveling than ever before, and the people responsible for arranging thenexhibitions and registering and handling the works of art keenly felt the lack ofna basic text on museum procedures. In 1952 those attending the Registrars Sectionnat the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums voted to supportna manual treating these subjects. Dorothy H. Dudley, then registrar at the Museumnof Modern Art, and Irma Bezold Wilkinson, then registrar at the MetropolitannMuseum of Art, were asked to undertake the project.The work of these two remarkable women culminated in the publication ofnMuseum Registration Methods in 1958. Since that time the role of the museumnregistrar has become increasingly professional, a tribute to the standards andninfluence of the book's two authors. Their manual of registration procedures isnrecognized and well established as the most important reference on the subject.nA second edition of the book, published in 1968, was quickly sold out, and worknwas begun on an expanded edition. Now, on the twentieth anniversary of the firstnpublication of this museum classic, a greatly enlarged and thoroughly updatednedition begins a new stage in the long and honorable history of Museum RegistrationnMethods.The basic procedures for the registration of objects set forth in the first editionnof Museum Registration Methods have not changed; they have proved theirneffectiveness through time and their adaptability to the requirements of manynkinds of museums. One book, however, cannot be comprehensive in the treatment of procedures for all institutions. Museum Registration Methods continues to bendirected primarily to art museums, but in this edition significant efforts have beennmade to address the needs of registrars in history and science museums and tondemonstrate an understanding of the special requirements of small museums.nThis edition also acknowledges improvements in methods and materials thatnhave occurred in the museum field in the past ten to twenty years. It incorporatesnnew information on the marking and storage of museum collections and thenpacking and shipping of objects, changes in tariff laws and regulations governingnimporting and exporting, and new developments in museum insurance. In addition,nauthors of articles in part 2 have revised their contributions, and new articlesnhave been added on rules for handling works of art, on registration in a historicnhouse museum and a natural history museum, and on the use of computerntechnology for museum registration. Portions of the book have been revisedn specifically for the benefit of students who may be using this as a textbook in thenmany museum training programs that have become available in recent years. Allnbibliographies, illustrations, and sample forms and records have been updated,nand a glossary of registration terms has been added.n n n

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 58 citations exist upstream.