NPS-28: CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT GUIDELINE

NPS Handbooks, Manuals, and Key Documents

Automated National Catalog System (ANCS) User Manual. April 1987. Developed to computerize accessioning and cataloging, the ANCS has wide-ranging application for both cultural objects and natural history specimens.

Museum Handbook, Part I, Museum Collections (Revised). September 1990. Part I provides guidance on scope of collections; environmental monitoring and control; pest management; museum collections storage; handling, packing, and shipping objects; conservation treatment; security and fire protection; emergency planning; curatorial health and safety; planning and programming for museum collections management; and museum ethics. This part of the handbook also addresses preventive conservation for various classes of museum objects.

Museum Handbook, Part II, Museum Records. September 1984. Part II provides guidance on documentation and accountability for cultural collections and natural history collections. The topics addressed include accessioning, cataloging, inventorying, marking, and record photography. New chapters on outgoing loans and deaccessioning are included.

Museum Handbook, Part III, Use of Museum Collections (draft in progress). Part III will provide guidance on uses of collections in exhibits, interpretive and educational activities, and research; motion pictures and photography; reproductions; office art; publications; and use of collections by Native American and other ethnic groups.

Standards for NPS Museum Collections Management. Director's Order 24, 1996. This order outlines the NPS standards and requirements for museum collections storage, exhibits, museum environment, security, fire protection, housekeeping, and museum collections planning.

Tools of the Trade: A Listing of Materials and Equipment for Managing Museum Collections. September 1990 (draft update in progress). This publication provides a description of and suggested sources for recordkeeping supplies; storage containers; specialty curatorial items, natural history supplies; museum cabinetry, shelving, and shelving racks; and environmental monitoring and control apparatus.

Technical Publications

Cumberland, Donald R., Jr. Museum Collection Storage in an Historic Building Using a Prefabricated Structure. Preservation Tech Notes: Museum Collections, No. 1. September 1985.

________. Collection Storage–Making a Case for Microenvironments. Supplement to CRM, vol. 15, no. 4, 1992.

Hunter, John E. Filing Cabinets and Safes for Protection of Paper Records, Computer Media, and Photographic Records from Fire Damage. Supplement to CRM, vol. 16, no. 5, 1993.

NPS Conserve O Gram Series (Revised). July 1993. This series consists of brief technical leaflets distributed periodically to provide park and museum staff with a wide variety of timely information on specific procedures and techniques for storage, exhibit mounting, and preventive care and maintenance; curatorial health and safety updates; and sources of assistance and supplies.

Sheetz, Ron, and Charles Fisher. Reducing Visible and Ultraviolet Light Damage to Interior Wood Finishes. Preservation Tech Notes: Museum Collections, No. 2. September 1990.

Scholarly or Professional Publications

American Association of Museums. Museum News (bimonthly journal) and Aviso (monthly newsletter).

________. Museum Ethics. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 1991.

American Association for State and Local History. History News (bimonthly journal) and History News Dispatch (monthly newsletter).

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation (biannual journal), AIC Newsletter (bimonthly newsletter), and the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

Burke, Robert B., and Sam Adeloye. A Manual of Basic Museum Security. Rome: International Council of Museums, 1986.

Case, Mary, ed. Registrars on Record: Essays on Museum Collections Management. Washington: American Association of Museums, 1988.

de Torres, Amparo R., ed. Collections Care: A Selected Bibliography. Washington: National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property, 1990.

Ellis, Judith, ed. Keeping Archives (second edition). Port Melbourne, Australia: D. W. Thorpe with Australian Society of Archivists, 1993.

Hensen, Steven L., comp. Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts: A Cataloging Manual for Archival Repositories, Historical Societies, and Manuscript Libraries. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1989.

Herholdt, Elizabeth M., ed. Natural History Collections: Their Management and Value. Pretoria: Transvaal Museum, 1990.

Johnson, E. Verner, and Joanne C. Horgan. Museum Collections Storage. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1979.

Jones, Barclay G., ed. Protecting Historic Architecture and Museum Collections from Natural Disasters. Boston: Butterworths, 1986.

Karp, Ivan, and Steven D. Lavine, eds. Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.

Lewis, Ralph H. Museum Curatorship in the National Park Service, 1904—1982. Washington: National Park Service, 1993.

Malaro, Marie C. A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985.

Miller, E. H., ed. Museum Collections: Their Roles and Future in Biological Research. Vancouver: British Columbia Provincial Museum, 1985.

Museum Computer Network. Spectra: The International Journal of Computer Applications in Museums.

National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 911 Standard: Protection of Museums and Museum Collections. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1991.

Phelan, Marilyn. Museums and the Law. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1982.

Smiraglia, Richard P., ed. Describing Archival Materials: The Use of the MARC AMC Format. New York: Haworth Press, 1990.

Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Collection Forum (biannual journal) and SPNHC Newsletter (quarterly newsletter).

Society of American Archivists. The American Archivist (quarterly journal), Basic Manual Series, SAA Newsletter (bimonthly newsletter), and A Code of Ethics for Archivists.

Thompson, John M. A., ed. The Manual of Curatorship. Stoneham, MA: Butterworths, 1992.

Thomson, Garry. The Museum Environment. 2d ed. Stoneham, MA: Butterworths, 1986.

Ward, Phillip R. The Nature of Conservation: A Race Against Time. Santa Monica, CA: J. Paul Getty Institute, 1987.

Whelchel, Harriet, ed. Caring for Your Collections. (The National Committee to Save America's Collections.) New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1992.