A Checklist for Museum

Collections Management Policy

Maija Ekosaari, Sari Jantunen & Leena Paaskoski

Writers: Maija Ekosaari, Sari Jantunen & Leena Paaskoski

Layout: Museum 2015 Project, Riikka Sainio
Publisher: Museum 2015 Project and National Board of Antiquities
The National Board of Antiquities guidelines and instructions 9
http://www.nba.fi/fi/tietopalvelut/julkaisut/museologia
Helsinki, 2014
ISBN 978-951-616-254-9
ISSN-L 2242-8852
ISSN 2242-8852

Index
To the Reader............................................................................................................................................ 2
... and to the Writer................................................................................................................................ 3
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 4
The museums collection mission.................................................................................................
Definition of the museums collection mission....................................................................................
Attributes of the collection mission........................................................................................................
Perspectives and values of the collection mission..............................................................................
The museums collection organization and resources.......................................................................

4
4
4
5
5

Collecting and accessioning............................................................................................................

Areas and emphasis of collections..........................................................................................................
Types of objects............................................................................................................................................
Collection criteria and evaluation............................................................................................................
Acquisition methods and procedures and related decisions..........................................................
Ways of collecting........................................................................................................................................
Numbers of acquired items and monitoring........................................................................................
Division of tasks in collecting and documenting between memory organizations and
museums........................................................................................................................................................

6
6
6
6
6
6
6

Administering and managing collections...............................................................................

Arrangement of collections.......................................................................................................................
Accessions to collections............................................................................................................................
Cataloguing and digitization....................................................................................................................
Collections management system (CMS)................................................................................................
Documentation and inventorying of the collections.........................................................................

8
8
8
9
9
10

Collections Care......................................................................................................................................
Conservation.................................................................................................................................................
Storage............................................................................................................................................................
Security...........................................................................................................................................................

11
11
11
12

The Accessibility and Use of Collections..................................................................................

Accessibility of collections and collections-related services and the mobility of collections
Users of the collections and clientele.....................................................................................................
Ways of using the collections...................................................................................................................
Collections based services.........................................................................................................................
Permits and fees for using collections....................................................................................................
Restrictions on the use of collections.....................................................................................................
Loans, depositions and placement.........................................................................................................

13
13
13
13
14
14
15
15

Attachments to the Collections Management Policy document............................... 16

Terminology.............................................................................................................................................. 17
Bibliography used in the Finnish version of the Checklist............................................. 26

To the Reader
The following is a checklist for cultural-historical and art museums concerning issues and details to be considered when preparing a Collections Management Policy for a museum. It presents only one possible structure, order and content for presenting the museums collection mission, offering a tool to help formulate the
museums own policy in this area. The checklist is intended as a flexible tool of which only a part can be used,
or to which other aspects of importance for the museums work can be added. The order of presentation
and headings can be altered. Collections Management Policy is always drawn up from the perspective of the
museum in question.
The Collections Management Policy checklist has been drafted with practical needs in mind. The more integrated and accessible the practices, processes and terminology of the collection activities in museums, the
easier it will be to engage in other forms of collaboration between museums. Collections Management Policy
defines the museums collection mission and the specific policies, reasons, practices, processes and details of
maintaining collections. Where necessary, it can describe earlier practices, the present situation and future
goals of the collection mission. Collections Management Policy both lays down aims and procedures and
serves as a manual and set of instructions for realizing the collection mission. Collections Management Policy
can be implemented in two versions, one of which can be public and the other internal instructions for the
museum, including matters not to be made public. Collections Management Policy is approved by the administration of the museum and implemented in its organization.
The checklist is presented in two forms: a written itemization with headings and instructions for writing and a
visual map of concepts underling the issues concerned and their mutual relationship instead of listing them
in consecutive order. The checklist is accompanied by an index of terms prepared in association with the Finnish Museum 2015 Project. In addition, ICOM / CIDOC International Guidelines for Museum Object Information:
The CIDOC Information Categories (1995) has been used in preparing the English translation.
The Collections Management Policy checklist has been prepared by Project Manager Maija Ekosaari from
Museum Centre Vapriikki, Curator Sari Jantunen and Collections Manager Leena Paaskoski both from Lusto,
the Finnish Forest Museum within SAKU Project funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture in
2011 2013. It is based on the published collections management policies of several cultural historical and art
museums in Finland and the authors own views and experiences of the work with collections. The checklist
has been commented on by several professionals of the museums sector and it has been tested in museums
of different type and size. The Collections Management Policy checklist has been published in Finnish in association with the Museum 2015 Project in 2013.
Leena Paaskoski, Sari Jantunen and Maija Ekosaari

... and to the Writer

By the time the English translation (by Jyri Kokkonen and the authors) was finished, tens of Finnish museums
had started writing their Collections Management Policies. From their experiences I would like to share four
points with you.
Make this YOUR museums policy. Adapt it to your operating environment. Write it from your perspective to
your staff, clientele and stakeholders.
Define terminology that is familiar in your country and museum. Use the terminology consistently. Use existing definitions but make sure they describe what you do. This is a good occasion to introduce new concepts
to your organization or to make existing practices explicit.
The itemized list is just one model how the finished document may be arranged. It is not the order in which
your writing project should be carried out. As when writing an article, you often write the Introduction and
Summary the last.
Write the policy with your colleagues who do the job concerned. Use their expertise to make this a policy
the entire staff can commit to. We hope your collections management policy becomes a tool rather than a
decoration.
We hope the checklist will save your time and let you concentrate on the content rather than the form.
Use this as a way to make visible all the work your department is doing with the museum collections.
We welcome your comments and feedback.
Tampere, Finland 1.10.2014
Maija Ekosaari
[email protected]

Introduction
What is a Museum Collections Management Policy? Describe the aims and purpose of your museums Collections Management Policy, processes of preparation and approval, and the personnel involved. Mention if the
museum has previous Collection Management Policies in writing or describe other courses of action in this
area. If Collections Management Policy has been implemented both publicly and as a version within the museum, the differences and functions of these versions are described. A description is given of how Collections
Management Policy is checked and updated and how it is utilized in the practical work of the museum.

The museums collection mission

Definition of the museums collection mission
What is the museums mission concerning its collections? Give a definition of this mission and its general aims.
The museum object
What does the work specifically concern? Define the museum object in relation to museum
work and the musealisation process, i.e. how an object becomes a museum object.
Significance and benefits
Why is this work carried out? Describe the purpose, significance and benefits of work concerning collections.
Clientele
For whom is collection-related work carried out? Define the clientele of collection work at a
general level.
Assessment, metrics and impact
How are collection work and its results and impact evaluated? List existing methods and metrics
of assessing work or ones that are to be adopted.

Attributes of the collection mission

What factors delimit and define the museums collection mission and its implementation? Describe the parameters of the museums collection mission, e.g. ethics of museum work; museum-related legislation; national,
international and bilateral agreements; the museums own regulations, overall mission, strategy etc.; division
of tasks among memory organizations and the origins, history of acquisitions and structure of the museums
collections that affect future definitions of the collection mission.
Museum legislation
How does the national and international legislation concerning museums affect the collection
mission?
Code of Ethics for Museums (ICOM 2005)
How is the Code of Ethics for Museums taken into account in the collection mission?

International agreements
How do possible international agreements affect the museums collection mission?
The museums regulations and strategy
How do the museums own regulations and strategy or similar instructions delimit and define
the collection mission?
The history and present state of the museum collections
What is the history and present state of the museums collections? Describe the starting points
for implementing the collection mission now and in the future.

Perspectives and values of the collection mission

What perspectives and values are taken into account and emphasized in the museums collection work? The
described perspectives and values are jointly shared by the museums sector or specific to individual museums, such as openness, accessibility, sustainable development, cultural sustainability, client centredness,
multiculturality, internationality.

The museums collection organization and resources

How is the implementation of the collection mission organized within the museum and what resources are
allocated for it? Describe the museums collection organization, resources available for collection work and
the division of tasks, responsibilities and decision-making process within the collection organization.

Collecting and accessioning

Areas and emphasis of collections
What themes, object types, geographic areas or historical periods are particular focuses of the museums
collection work? List special focuses if the museum gives priority to certain objects and areas in its collecting
activities. Where necessary also describe changes in collecting focus during the history of the museum.
What is the museums area of collecting? Define the museums geographic, chronological and thematic area
of collecting in sufficient detail. A thematic area of collecting can mean a specific area of subject matter or e.g.
an individual. Also note any change to the definition of the collecting area if the museums older collections
were acquired on different ground.

Types of objects
What types of objects are collected by the museum? List collected object types and possible focuses or
emphases among them in sufficient detail.

Collection criteria and evaluation

What criteria are applied in the museums choices of collection objects? How are objects evaluated for
example with regard to properties relating to their acquisition, condition or context? How will the definition
of a museum objects ideal state possibly be applied in the collection stage?

Acquisition methods and procedures and related decisions

In what ways does the museum make acquisitions to its collections? What acquisition procedures are in force
in the museum? How are potentially collectable objects evaluated before decisions for acquisitions and how
are the given reasons recorded? Describe the methods of acquisition that are used (e.g. active acquisition,
acquisition boards, the role of experts, commissioned works etc.). List and record the persons responsible for
the acquisition decision and the acquisition process.

Ways of collecting
In what different ways is the collecting implemented? List and define the methods your museum practices,
e.g. participative collecting, object -type collecting, phenomenon-specific documentation, prospective,
retrospective and contemporary documentation.

Numbers of acquired items and monitoring

What are the annual numbers of acquisitions and acquired objects? List possible quantitative and qualitative acquisition goals and reasons why acquisitions are not made for collections. Describe the monitoring of
acquisitions.

Division of tasks in collecting and documenting between memory organizations and museums
How does the museum collaborate in collecting and documenting work with other museums and cultural
memory organizations? What division of tasks is followed or what kind of division of tasks should be negotiated in the future? Describe the effects of collaboration between museums and the division of responsibilities
between museums, archives and libraries on collecting.

Administering and managing collections

Arrangement of collections
What principles or systems of arrangement and classification are used in your museum?
Organization of collections
How are the museums collections organized e.g. according to object types or function? E.g.
artefact collection, collection of photographs, archive collection, library collection or museum collections, pedagogic collection. Describe the organization of collections and related grounds for it.
Value classification
Does your museum apply value classification or other methods for establishing the value and significance of objects? If so, please specify. Describe the value classification and its criteria and the
practical instructions for classification or other methods for defining the value and significance of
items. You may also give reasons for not applying value classification.
Deaccessioning
What is the museums deaccession policy? Does the museum apply life-span concepts to objects? Describe the grounds for deaccession and related decision-making, how deaccession is
carried out, where and how deaccessions are recorded and how information on deaccessioned
objects is kept.

Accessions to collections
How are new objects added to collections? Describe collection accessioning as a process.
Accessioning decisions and reception of objects
How and by whom are the museums accessioning decisions made? How are objects received? List procedures related to accession decisions and the object entry. In the public version
procedures are given at a general level and/or as a process diagram. Procedures are to be
described in more detail in the related manual (or attachments).
Registration
How is a new accession registered in the museum collections? Describe the practices and
stages of registration. In the public version procedures are given at a general level and/or as
a process diagram. Procedures are to be described in more detail in the related manual (or
attachments).
Donations and Depositions
What kinds of donations and depositions your museum accepts? What kinds of agreements
does the museum enter into? What terms and conditions apply to donations and depositions?
List agreement practices. Describe which terms and conditions exist accessioning different
object types to the collections and give reasons for them. In the public version procedures are
given at a general level and in more detail in the related manual (or attachments).
Naming and numbering objects
How are objects or collections named and numbered? Describe procedures for naming and
numbering different object types, collections and single objects. In the public version procedures are given at a general level and in more detail in the related manual (or attachments).

Cataloguing and digitization

How and when are the cataloguing and digitization of collections and objects carried out? Describe cataloguing and digitization as a process.
The nature and sources of catalogued information
What kind of catalogued information is produced in the museum and in what manner? Describe the nature of the museums catalogued information (metadata, contextual and background
information) and the sources of used information at a general level. Is crowd sourcing or community sourcing applied in compiling catalogued information? What research or interpretations
are involved in the cataloguing process?
Cataloguing methods
What cataloguing methods are used for collections and objects in the museum? Describe different methods that are possibly used and their terminology, e.g. identification, research, registration, basic, detailed, and inventory cataloguing. In the public version procedures are given at a
general level and in more detail in the related manual (or attachments).
Keywords and classification
What keyword indexes, ontologies and classification systems are used in the museum? Describe
the keyword indexes, ontologies and classification systems that are in use, the ways in which
they are used, and their possible further development. In the public version this matter is
described at a general level and in more detail in the related manual (or attachments).
Cataloguing and digitization instructions
How are instructions provided for cataloguing and digitization? Describe the museums cataloguing and digitization instructions and e.g. object photography and scanning instructions and
how the national cataloguing instructions (if applicable) are used and applied in the museum.
In the public version this matter is described at a general level and in more detail in the related
manual (or attachments).

Collections management system (CMS)

What is the museums collections management system (CMS)? Account the electronic or manual CMS or systems and any systems that were previously in use. Describe the systems data security measures.
System description and technical documentation
Describe the system in detail and in technical terms, or attach its technical documentation to
the Collections Management Policy document.
Standards
What data or other standards are followed in collections management and the CMS? Describe
and give reasons for applied standards or possible plans for adopting standards.
Use of the system
How and in what areas of collection-related work is the CMS used? Describe the functions and
forms of use of the system. The CMS instruction can be appended to the Collections Management Policy document.

Documentation and inventorying of the collections

How are the collections and objects documented and inventoried in the various stages of museum work?
Describe e.g. what kind of periodic inventorying campaigns museum has and how exhibitions based on museums collections are documented. Describe if there are other particular documentation practices e.g. with
communities and users. How are the location information of objects and changes of location recorded? What
kind of management procedures museum enforces concerning locations and relocation?

10

Collections Care
Conservation
What is your museums conservation policy? Describe conservation goals and practices, the museums conservation facilities and the practical aspects of conducting conservation work. Where necessary describe the
conservation process.
Target level of collections care
What is the level of collections care at which the museum aims? Define the goals of collections
care as permitted by available resources at a general level and/or with specific reference of materials or bodies of material.
Evaluating and documenting the condition of the collection and related conservation plans
Why, how, when and by whom the condition of the collection evaluated and how are observations documented? Describe the benefits or consequences of evaluating the condition of the
collection and how evaluation is carried out in practice and how the results are recorded. Also
describe the situation where the condition of the collection is evaluated and whether evaluation
is continuous and scheduled. What possible material-specific plans for active conservation does
the museum have? Describe conservation plans customized to different materials and/or groups
of objects and give reasons why they are needed.
Preventive and active conservation
What are preventive and active conservation measures? Define these terms from the museums
perspective and note who (professional position rather than a persons name which can change) are responsible at the museum for conservation or whether outsourced services are used.
Describe in the manual for practical work (or its attachments) what tools and materials are used
in conservation. Describe the museums conservation facilities, their equipment and possible
targets regarding facilities in the future.

Storage
Storage space and conditions
What are the museums storage facilities and their ambient conditions (e.g. temperature, RH,
lighting)? How are they maintained? Describe the museums available storage facilities (size,
construction and shelving materials, storage solutions, solutions maintaining and ensuring
security etc.), storage conditions and possible future targets regarding storage facilities and conditions. Also describe the surveillance and cleaning of the facilities and note whose (professional position) tasks include responsibility for storage facilities and their upkeep, or whether e.g.
outsourced services are used. The storage facilities and conditions, or a selection of this information, can also be given as an attachment in the form of a facilities and conditions report.
Storage materials and protection
What kinds of storage materials are used to protect museum objects and why? Explain the suitability of materials for various types of museum objects. Give protection instructions specific to
materials and collections of objects in the manual (or its attachments).
Digital long-term preservation
How and where are digitized museum collections or digitized information on the collections
kept? List the principles, procedures and instructions for digitized long-term storage in the manual or its attachments (e.g. file formats).

11

Security
How is the security of the collections attended to? Describe risks concerning the use, storage and e.g. data
security of the collections and measures taken to minimize them.
Risk mapping and risk management
What risks and negative scenarios are related to the collections and the implementation of the
collection mission? Describe the risk mapping of the museums collection, major observed risks
and the museums risk management plan.
Security and emergency salvage plan for the collections
How is the physical and data security of the collections ensured and what actions are carried
out in crisis situation? Who is responsible for security? List and describe persons responsible for
security and emergency salvage, related measures and resources. Include a prepared security
and salvage plan for the collections as an attachment to the Collections Management Policy
document.
Insurance policies
How are the collections insured and how are insured values defined for collections, parts of
collections and museum objects? What facilities or situations are covered by insurance? Note
insurance procedures and situations and the principles of defining and revising insured values.

12

The Accessibility and Use of Collections

Accessibility of collections and collections-related services and the mobility of collections
How is the accessibility of collections implemented and what collection-related services are offered to your
museums clientele? How does the museum promote the mobility of collections and what matters must be
kept in mind in the mobility of collections? Describe the museums collections services and clients opportunities to study and use the collections. Describe state guarantees of indemnity concerning the mobility of
collections, insurance, agreements and long-term loans of collection objects.

Users of the collections and clientele

Who use the museums collections? Whose interests are served by existence of collections activities? Who or
what parties are the clientele of collections activities? Describe the main user groups from the perspective
of the museums collections activities. In the charting of users you can also consider in addition to individual
users the parties paying for the museums activities or work (e.g. the local municipality, the state). Cf. collection mission/Clients.
The museums own organization
How does the museum use its own collections? Describe the museums own organization as
users of collections and collections services.
Other cultural memory organizations
How are the collections or collections services used by other cultural memory organizations?
Describe other cultural memory organizations as users of the collections and collections services.
Stakeholders and funding parties
What is the role of the museums stakeholders and funding parties as users? Describe these
groups as clients of the collections and collections services.
Others
What other client and user groups do the museums collections activities have? List and describe
other users e.g. researchers, students and private citizens or itemize user groups in further detail
under specific headings.
Foreign and non-[insert your language here] speaking users
Do the collections have foreign and/or non-[insert your language here] speaking users that
need to be taken into consideration when planning of developing collections services (e.g. multilingual services)? Describe possible user groups of this kind.

Ways of using the collections

Use in exhibitions
How are collections, objects and collection-related information used in the museums own and
other exhibitions? Describe the principles and possible restrictions of using museum material
for exhibitions and related recommendations (e.g. the sensitivity of materials for certain ambient
conditions defining their period of continuous display).
Museum-pedagogical use
How can collections, objects and collection-related information be used in museum-pedagogical
activities?

13

Use in publications
How can collections, objects and collection-related information be integrated in publications
and what objects or information can be made public?
Research use
How can collections, objects and collection-related information be used as research materials?
How is the research use of the collections promoted?
Commodification and commercial use
How can collections, objects and collection-related information be commodificated and used
commercially?
Internet-based and mobile use
How can collections, objects and collection-related information be utilized in the internet and
mobile applications? Describe use in various media and client interfaces (e.g. museums own
webpages, Europeana, mobile applications for tourists) and the degree to which collections
information and images are open data (see Creative Commons license).

Collections based services

What services related to or based on the collections are provided by the museum? Describe the museums
existing collections services and possible plans for new services. Which individuals or parties produce the
services and how are they maintained? Collections services can include the following:
Client interfaces for collections
What client interfaces does the museum provide or maintain for its collections?
Visual materials services
What collections-based visual materials services does the museum provide or maintain?
Information services
What information services does the museum provide?
Research materials services
How can the museums collections be used as research material and what are the related services?
Other services
What other collections-based services does the museum provide? These can be listed under
separate headings.

Permits and fees for using collections

What permits does the use of the collections possibly require? What fees are for different forms of use?
Describe the museums policies for permits and fees for the use of collections, e.g. research permits, publication permits and the pricing of use of different services. Various application forms, agreements and price lists
possibly in use to support managing the permissions can be attached to the Collections Management Policy
document.

14

Restrictions on the use of collections

What restrictions are placed on the use of the museums collections? Describe used restrictions and give the
reasons for them. The use of collections can be restricted for example by:
Legislation on personal data and identity protection
How do legislation on personal data and identity protection restrict the use of collections?
Cf. Attributes of the collection mission / Museums legislation.
Copyright legislation and permission for use
How does copyright legislation restrict the use of collections and what permission for use of the
collections can be given within the bounds of copyright legislation? Cf. Attributes of the collection mission / Museums legislation.
Terms of donation agreements
In what ways is the use of the collections possibly restricted in various cases in agreements on
the donation of materials? Describe the terms and restrictions of earlier agreements of this kind
and existing agreement procedures from the perspective of restrictions.
Other restrictions
What other factors possibly restrict the use of museum collections?

Loans, depositions and placement

What procedures does the museum have for loans, depositions or outside placement of collections?
Describe the different procedures, their stages and details as processes.
Policy regarding loans, depositions and placement
What policy does the museum follow in matters of loans, depositions and placement of materials from its collections? To whom, where and for what purposes are collections lent, deposited
or placed? To whom, where and for what purposes collections are not loaned out? What does
the museum itself receive as loans, depositions or placements and why?
Conditions and instructions
What conditions apply to loans, depositions and placement from the museum or to be received
by it? List the conditions and other necessary instructions for the various procedures.
Agreements
What agreements are made in processes of loan, deposition and placement? Who is responsible for the agreements? Describe the museums procedures regarding agreements. Agreement
forms can be attached the Collections Management Policy document.
Measures concerning loans, deposition and placement
What measures are taken by the museum in connection with loans, depositions and placement
either from the museum or received by it? Describe these measures and the systems or procedures of managing loans, deposition and placement.

15

Attachments to the Collections Management Policy document

Attachments to the Collections Management Policy document can include all process description and documents concerning the collection mission, such as the museums instructions for cataloguing and digitization,
cataloguing forms, agreement templates and price lists for collections-related services.

16

Terminology
Term

Definition

Accession

Receiving new material into a museums collections.

The formal act of entering an object into the collections of a museum. Once an object has been accessioned it has a status beyond that of merely being the property
of the organization and can only be disposed of by referring to the governing body
of the organi zation, e.g., the Trustees or Director. (CIDOC)1

Acquisition

The transfer of ownership (title) of an object to the organization.

Analysis of
significance

A constant process of examining values and meanings of a museum object or a

collection.

Area of responsibility
in collecting and documentation

The museums area of responsibility in collecting and documentation is a specific thematic area, a geographic region or historical period regarding which the
museum collects and documents material.

Cataloguing

Cataloguing is the recording of data on objects in the collections of museums.

In cataloguing all information on the object or references to it is recorded according to jointly agreed rules.
In cataloguing, objects are distinguishing other similar objects and made recognizable. Cataloguing produces systematic information on individual objects
and larger entities that can be utilized in different ways.
The compilation and maintenance of primary information by systematically
describing objects in the collection, and the arranging of this information into an
object catalog record. (CIDOC)

Cataloguing
information

Information recorded in the museums cataloguing process. Metadata on the

object or collection concerned (administrative, descriptive and contextual information) are cataloguing information.

Classification

The grouping of material into similar entities with the aid of classification systems. Classification is used to place material in its cultural context.

Classification system

Classification systems are code-based and hierarchic systems for organizing

information. Classification systems generally codes divided into main and subordinate classes (sub-classes) with related descriptions in the form of text OR
with related verbal descriptions. Classification system group together shared
features of objects.

ICOM / CIDOC International Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information Categories (1995) [Web material]
Available at: http://network.icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/minisites/cidoc/DocStandards/guidelines1995.pdf
1

17

Client

User of collections or collections-related service or a party that has assigned the

collection mission (e.g. the Ministry of Culture and Education, an owner organization)

Collecting

A musealisation process carried out by a museum making an object , item of

information or phenomenon part of the cultural heritage and the museum collections

Collection

An assembled and arranged group of objects with related information or other

documented material the storage, care and study of which is the responsibility
of the museum.

Collection
development

Collection development is the process of building or improving a collection. It

is a process whereby each object accessioned, and each candidate for discard, is
carefully evaluated in terms of the needs it meets and its place in the collection.

Collection mission

The underlying concept of collection work carried out in a museum (Statement

of purpose), answering the questions of what, how, for whom and why. The collection mission is defined in the Collections Management Policy.

Collection/
documentation plan

A collection / documentation plan based on the museums purpose, tasks and

goals defines its principles of collection/documentation: what materials are
included in the museums collections and in what ways. Underlying the collection/documentation plan is a detailed chronological, geographical and contentrelated definition and delimitation of the museums area of operation.

Collections
administration

Administration or management of objects, collections and related information.

Collections history

A description of the history of the founding, collecting, acquisitioning, management, storage and use of museum collections.

Collections
management

A mode of operation for museums comprising accessioning and the supervision, care and use of collections. Collections management is described in Collections Management Policy.
Ensuring the effective documentation, preservation, and access to objects in a
museum collection.(CIDOC)

Collections management system (CMS)

The information system applied in collections management by the museum.

Collections mobility

The loaning of objects and collections among museums in accordance with

joint principle and a loan. See e.g. http://www.lending-for-europe.eu/

18

Collections
Management Policy

A Collections Management Policy is a document prepared by a museum on

aims, courses of action and principles of Collections Management Policy and
the forms of operation and methods applied in their implementation. A Collections Management Policy document describes the museums collections
management and its related processes.

Condition survey

Investigation and documentation of the physical condition of an object or collection.

Conservation

Measures ensuring the preservation of an object or collection and related information.

Conservation target
level

Level of the physical condition of an object that is to be preserved with conservation measures or to be achieved to permit the use of the object.

Contemporary
documentation /
collecting

The recording and collecting of phenomena, information and objects of the

present or recent past for museum collections.

Contextual
information

Related term: Background information

Information on the context of an object or collection.

Core information

The minimum information that should be recorded of an object when it is catalogued into a Collection Management System. Core information records the
main items of information on the cultural heritage of an objects and its significance. Core information makes it possible to keep and identify the object and
to distinguish it from other objects.

Crowd sourcing /
Community sourcing

A dispersed model of problem solving and production in which the commissioning party (museum) utilizes the communities skills for a set task, e.g. to
obtain contextual information on museum collections.
In community sourcing where the commissioning party works with individuals
and groups already known, e.g. local historians or club of steam engine enthusiast.

Cultural memory
organizations

Private and public organizations which preserve cultural heritage and documented information, and keep it accessible for the researchers and anyone
interested now and in the future.
Archives, libraries and museums (ALMor Galleries, Libraries, Archives and
Museums, GLAM) in particular, are cultural memory organizations. In addition
to national heritage they collect and preserve important international information resources and provide services based on their collections.

19

Data standard

A statement of what data should be recorded, how data should be recorded, and
how data should be supported by a system in order to retain its full meaning. A
data standard should enable consistency and predictability in the organization and
recording of data, whatever the type of system or data structure used.(CIDOC)

Deposition

The transfer of the possession of an object or collection, as a long-term loan

to the museum. In a deposition, the right of use passes to the museum and
the object or collection becomes part of the museums collections. Proprietary
right (=ownership) is not transferred and there may be restrictions on use. The
museum bears liability for damages There is a written agreement on rights of
possession, use and loans to third parties.

Description

Part of the process of cataloguing museum objects, in which the information

for identifying an individual object is recorded in the catalogues. Description
is an action in which the object in question is described in such a manner as
to permit its information to be retrieved and identified and its properties to be
evaluated on the basis of the data recorded in the description. It can be based
on attaching predefined values to the object (e.g. choice of values given in a
menu) or freely drafted verbal description. A description can also be a photograph or video clip of the object.

Digitization

The conversion of analogue material (e.g. a document printed on paper or a

film recorded magnetic tape) into a digitized form.

Documentation (noun)

The records which document the creation, history, acquisition by the museum and
subsequent history of all objects in a museum collection. Such records include provenance and provenience documents, acquisition documents, conservation reports,
cataloguing records, images, and research papers, both created by the holding
institution and by previous owners or independent researchers, etc. Also used for
the process of gathering this information. (CIDOC)

Documentation (verb)

The recording of an object, item of information or phenomenon.

Documentation
standards

Documentation standards contain definitions of or instructions for information

to be given in the description of materials. Some documentation standards also
prescribe the manner of recording information.

Donation

The transfer of the rights of possession use and/or ownership of an object to a

museum.

Geographic
information

Basic geodetic information related to data, bodies of data and objects. It is

information on an area that gives the location of a site or object as a direct or
indirect reference to a given place or geographic region. This information is
given as numerical data in a coordinate grid (location on the globe).
Cf. Location

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Ideal state of an
object

The (physical) state of an object that its keeper (museum) regards to be most
significant. The ideal state is always one of the objects actual historical states.

Identification
cataloguing

The cataloguing of an object in such detail that it can identified and distinguished from other similar objects.

Inventory

1) Archaeological inventory
Archaeological inventory or inventory survey means the systematic investigation of archaeological remains. This works entails inspections of previously
known sites and surveying for new, or previously unknown, site. Archaeological
inventories are carried in connection with land-use projects for example in connection with local planning and the construction of routes of communication
and energy grids. Inventories make it possible to include archaeological sites
in official protection and research, and they can also be utilized for purposes of
tourism and education. (National Board of Antiquities, Finland)
2) Inventories of the built environment
Inventories of the built environment or the cultural landscape concern environments and settings that are in use and lived in. They are also a method for carrying out investigations required by legislation on land use and building.
Inventories of the built environment include evaluation, which always has a
social dimension. The sites and locations to be inventoried can be inhabited,
possibly with an owner, inhabitant or other users. The expertise of these stakeholders is also taken into account in these inventories. See also Participatory
documentation.
The built environment can also be researched without inventories, although
inventory work is usually a starting point. (The Regional museum of Pirkanmaa,
Tampere, Finland)
3) Inventories of museum collections
The inventorying of collections means the inspection and listing of material in
the possession of a museum. In this connection, measurements can be checked
and the condition of objects can be charted.
Inventories carried out at regular intervals are known as periodic inventories.

Inventory
cataloguing

The recording of minimum information on objects in museum collections according to jointly agreed rules.

Keyword indexing

The description of objects with the aid of keywords. Keyword lists and ontologies are used to describe the objects and searching information. Keyword lists
and ontologies are recognized and updated national or international thesauri
e.g. Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT).

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Life-span

Physical life-span: The duration of an object as a physical entity from its manufacturing to its destruction.
Cultural life-span: The duration of an object as a cultural entity. In the various
stages of the cultural life-span the object appears as an idea, ready but unused,
as object with a history of use and finally as a destroyed but documented or
remembered object.

Location

Information on the location in the collections of an object, sample, observation, site description or other material or body of information belonging to the
natural or cultural heritage collected or documented by a museum, and the
locational information concerning its manufacture, birth or emergence, discovery and/or use. Information of this kind is. e.g. a storage designation or a note
that the object is in an exhibition.
Location is not necessarily geographic information given in coordinates.
Cf. Geographic information

Long-term loan

An object or collection loaned by agreement from one museum to another for

a long period with rights of ownership and possession remaining with the party
lending out the material.

Long-term
preservation

Preserving objects or information on them for a minimum period of 10 years or

permanently.

Metadata

Data describing the context, content and structure of information and its management and handling throughout its whole life-span. Metadata can be used
e.g. for the retrieval, localization and identification of material.

Musealisation
(process),
heritage making

A process in which an object, item of information or phenomena is made part

of cultural heritage through identification, isolation and signification.

Object

Any part of the physical world that can and is wanted to be preserved in
its own setting, removed from it, or in documented form.2 An object can be
digitized. Objects can be individual items, composed of several parts or they
can form entities. A museum object is an expression of culture: subject to the
processes of accession, research, keeping, preservation and use in a museum,
which is part of the cultural heritage in the museum context.

Object type

Museum object type based on the appearance or content of an object. Object

types include e.g. artefacts, works of art, photographs, archive material, material
of natural history. The type primarily served the general grouping of materials
for purposes of search and retrieval.

van Mensch, Peter 1992. Towards a methodology of museology. Phd Thesis, University of Zagreb, 1992. [Web material]
Available at: http://www.muuseum.ee/et/erialane_areng/museoloogiaalane_ki/ingliskeelne_kirjand/p_van_mensch_towar/
2

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Ontology

Information processing classifications that have been particularly used in

computing. They are an integral part of the semantic web of the Internet, with
which programs (robots, bots) can locate or identify content of the right group
more efficiently. Ontologies can be understood as conceptual models itemizing
the concepts of a given subject area and describing the relationships of these
concepts in a logical that computers can understand. Ontologies can be used
e.g. for the more unequivocal and uniform description of contents. This can applied in so-called smart semantic web services.

Open Data /
Open Knowledge

Data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone - subject only,
at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.
Availability and Access: the data must be available as a whole and at no more
than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably by downloading over the internet. The data must also be available in a convenient and modifiable form.
Reuse and Redistribution: the data must be provided under terms that permit
reuse and redistribution including the intermixing with other datasets.
Universal Participation: everyone must be able to use, reuse and redistribute
- there should be no discrimination against fields of endeavour or against persons or groups. For example, non-commercial restrictions that would prevent
commercial use, or restrictions of use for certain purposes (e.g. only in education), are not allowed.
http://opendatahandbook.org/en/what-is-open-data/

Participative
collecting/
documentation

The participation of the community in the museums work of collecting/documentation. See also Crowd sourcing / community sourcing.

Phenomenon-specific
documentation

The documentation of a chosen phenomenon of the past or present for the collections of a museum.

Placement

The placing of an object or collection outside the museum for a set period or
for the time being.

Preventive
conservation

Preventive conservation seeks to minimize future damage to and destruction

of an object. The measures concerned are indirect and they do not alter the
materials of the object.
Preventive conservation focuses on the storage, exhibition and transport conditions of collections and their security and the proper handling of objects in the
various stages of museum work.

Process

A series of events in which something develops, evolves or changes.

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Prospective
collecting

A form of collection management where museum and a company/industry

agree on future preservation of objects in use. It enriches the object information by documenting the use of the object in its pre-acquisition phase.

Registration

A procedure with which an object is given a place in the museum collections.

Registration records e.g. the objects (inventory) number, its main information
for identification, background and acquisition information and possibly required references to other documents.

Remedial
conservation

Remedial conservation seeks to halt the destruction of materials or to reinforce

the structure of an object. These measures directly apply to the materials of an
object, which may result in changes to its appearance.

Research cataloguing

More detailed that identification cataloguing, recording researched information

on the object and its context.

Retrospective
collecting

Collecting and documenting past phenomena.

Risk mapping

The charting and detailed definition of risks to objects, collections or related

information, and the planning of risk control.

Statement of
significance

A regularly updated summary of values and meanings of a museum object or a

collection produced in an analysis of significance.

Technical
documentation

Technical description of a museum information system at such a detailed level

that a programming professional can, if necessary, search for information from
the system with query languages and work on the system on the basis of existing documentation. It contains information e.g. on programming development
methods that have been used, a description of version management, the database structure and information on the user-specific settings.
System description and technical documentation include at least:
the applied software development methods and technologies
description of the software version management
database structure showing relations between data structures and types,
lengths and purpose of data fields
annotated examples of database queries, with which the most typical information of basic use can be sought and recorded.
manner of implementation of client-specific settings or properties in relation to basic properties
descriptions of the interfaces of the software, including what information
can be accessed, types of data and extent

Transfer of title

A legal term to describe the formal process of a change of ownership of an

object from one person or institution to another. (CIDOC)

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User Interface

The visual part of computer application or operating system through which a

user interacts with a computer or a software. It determines how commands are
given to the computer or the program and how information is displayed on the
screen. Three main types of user interfaces are (1) Command language: the user
must know the machine and program-specific instructions or codes. (2) Menus:
user chooses the commands from lists displayed on the screen. (3) Graphical user
interface (GUI): user gives commands by selecting and clicking on icons displayed
on the screen. (www.businessdictionary.com)

Value classification

A method by which the museum with given criteria or proceeding from certain
perspectives evaluates an object its museum value and suitability to the museums collections profile and classifies it in relation to its future care, storage and
use, and the rest of the museum collection.

Word lists

List of terms the relations of which have not been defined as in commonly used
and recognized keyword lists and ontologies. See Keyword indexing.

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Bibliography used in the Finnish version of the Checklist

Aln, Inka, Laczak, Riikka, Lindfors, Anna & Tuppurainen, Riitta. Museologian erityissanastoa. 2006-10-30.
[web material] http://www.helsinki.fi/museologia/Museologian_erityissanasto.pdf
Appelbaum, Barbara. Conservation Treatment Methodology. Lexington (KY): Barbara Appelbaum, 2011.
Bohman, Stefan & Palmqvist, Lennart (red.). Museer och kulturarv. En museivetenskaplig antologi. Stockholm: Carlsson, 2003.
Collections Council of Australia Ltd. Significance 2.0. a guide to assessing the significance of collections.
2nd ed. Collections Council of Australia Ltd., 2009. [web material]. http://arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/
resources-publications/significance-2.0/pdfs/significance-2.0.pdf
ICOM / CIDOC International Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information Categories (1995) [web material] http://network.icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/minisites/cidoc/DocStandards/guidelines1995.pdf
Lng, Reija & Valanto, Sirkka. Museoalan asiasanaston uudistaminen. Esiselvitys. Museoalan asiasanaston
(MASA) uudistamishankkeen ensimmisen vaiheen loppuraportti. Helsinki: Museovirasto, 2008.
van Mensch, Peter & Meijer-van Mensch, Lontine. New Trends in Museology. Celje: Museum of Recent
History, 2011.
Museum 2015 Project webpages. Available in English http://www.nba.fi/en/development/museum_2015
Museoviraston Arkeologisten kenttpalvelujen verkkosivut. http://www.nba.fi/fi/kulttuuriymparisto/arkeologiset_kenttapalvelut/inventointi
National Digital Library of Finland webpages. Available in English http://kdk.fi/en/
Russell, Roslyn & Winkworth, Kylie. Significance 2.0: a guide to assessing the significance of collections.
2nd ed. Collections Council of Australia Ltd., 2009. [web material] http://arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/resources-publications/significance-2.0/pdfs/significance-2.0.pdf
SPECTRUM-standard webpages. http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/spectrum
TAKO. Ammatillisten museoiden tallennus- ja kokoelmayhteistyverkoston verkkosivut [web material].
http://www.nba.fi/fi/kansallismuseo/tako
TEPA. Sanastokeskus TSK:n termipankki. [web material]http://www.tsk.fi/tepa/netmot.exe?UI=figr&height=161

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