2nd Edition

Manual of Curatorship A Guide to Museum Practice

Edited By John M. A. Thompson Copyright 1993

    Based on original contributions by specialists, this manual covers both the theory and the practice required in the management of museums. It is intended for all museum and art gallery profession staff, and includes sections on new technology, marketing, volunteers and museum libraries.

    1: The Museum Context; 1: Introduction; 2: Museums and their precursors: a brief world survey; 3: Ideological Criticism and Pluralism; 4: The organization of museums; 5: The Museums & Galleries Commission; 6: Enabling legislation for museums; 7: National museums; 8: The national galleries; 9: University museums; 10: Local Authority museums and galleries; 11: Independent museums; 12: Ethics of curatorship in the UK; 2: Management and Administration; 13: The role of the director; 14: Financial management; 15: Museums and marketing; 16: Personnel management; 17: The management of volunteers; 18: The management of museum buildings; 19: Building a new museum: the roles and relationship of curator and architect in planning and project management; 20: Security; 21: Information technology in museums; 22: Law and legislation; 3: Conservation; 23: Introduction; 24: Documenting collections; 25: Conservation documentation; 26: Control and measurement of the environment; 27: Buildings, environment and artefacts; 28: Conservation and storage: archival paper; 29: Conservation and storage: prints, drawings and water-colours; 30: Conservation and storage: easel paintings; 31: Conservation and storage: photographic materials; 32: Conservation and storage: textiles; 33: Conservation and storage: leather objects; 34: Conservation and storage: wood; 35: Conservation and storage: ceramics; 36: Conservation and storage: stone; 37: Conservation and storage: metals; 38: Conservation and storage: machinery; 39: Conservation and storage: archaeological material; 40: Conservation and storage: geological material; 41: Conservation and storage: zoological collections; 42: Herbarium practice; 43: Object handling; 44: Storage systems; 45: Conservation aspects of storage and display; 46: Pest control in museums; 47: Scientific examination of artefacts; 48: Disaster planning; 4: Collections Research; 49: Collections research: local, national and international pespectives; 50: The nature of museum collections; 51: Researching geological collections; 52: Archaeological research collections: prehistoric and Roman; 53: Archaeological research collections: medieval and post-medieval; 54: The hardware of science; 55: Research: natural science collections; 56: Research: fine-art collections; 57: Research — social history; 58: Research: social-history sources; 59: Classical antiquities: forgeries and reproductions; 60: Coins: fakes and forgeries; 61: Collections research: industry; 5: User Services; 62: Introduction; 63: Museum libraries; 64: Museum publications: a descriptive and bibliographic guide; 65: Museums and education: a bibliographic guide; 66: Communicating through museum exhibitions; 67: Exhibition design; 68: Museum education; 69: Approaches to summative evaluation; 70: Retailing; 71: Enquiries

    Biography

    John M. A. Thompson