DATABASE DIALOGUES: EXAMINING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN VENDORS AND MUSEUMS
DATABASE DIALOGUES: EXAMINING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN VENDORS AND MUSEUMS
Loading...
Issue Date
2010
Authors
VanderMeer, Elizabeth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A collections manager at a regional natural history museum opens a package he's been waiting weeks for. He carefully takes out the stuffed and mounted California Valley Quail; it is as beautiful as he remembers it being the first time he saw it in the old man's house. This quail makes a wonderful new addition to the museum's collection, just in time for the new exhibit. The collections manager begins to record the bird's information—dimensions, donor information, description, and he assigns the quail its accession number. He also draws a small sketch of the bird while making a mental note to mention the new specimen to the Audubon Society at the meeting next week.
This collections manager, and this situation, could take place in 1910, 2010, or any time in between. Museums record information about their objects to help present and future staff rediscover the object later for an exhibition, conservation, a visit by a stakeholder like the Audubon Society, or an educational program. Without this recorded information no one but the collections manager would have any idea the quail existed; no one, not even other museum professionals working at the same institution, would have access to it. Paper records, card catalogs, and collections databases have all served the same purpose: to increase access to a museum's collection. Unlike records on paper, however, databases can be designed to do more than record basic information about an object. Computer technology has made it possible to increase access more than card catalogs ever could.