- Controlling Costs of Collections Management
Agencies need to standardize the elements included in reporting curation costs;
being specific regarding list of what is reported.
- Uniformity and flexibility--getting the right balance
- Sonny Trimble's and Terry Childs' survey data are very important for
comparative purposes and the establishment of standard costs/units (e.g.
$/cubic ft.)
- Staged levels of care
- Factors: staff, volunteers, contractors
- Account for cost savings through deaccession and other program
- Develop multi-agency standard for curation that has staged levels for
costs and activities included:
- Basic (Acc./Cat./Storage),
- Mid-level (Access for research, agencies, and tribes), 3
- Advanced (Public use component; produce small mini-travel exhibit
to go to agency headquarters, regional offices and public venues)
- Contacts: dwallsmi@westga.edu,
bmoe@kpt.nuwa.navy.mil, matthew_wilson@nps.gov
- Professional Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the agency to define requirements, including consequences
for lack of compliance.
Incentives for compliance are also generated by public interest and benefits.
Next Steps:
- Focus on Agencies:
- Develop mechanism to disseminate information about importance of
museum programs throughout federal government (Internet application?)
- Educate organization regarding why the program is valuable to organization
- Lack of Compliance
- Emphasize individual responsibility of managers
- Top-Down Commitment
- Requires education of upper management regarding staffing and funding
- Public Pressure (public involvement and support)
- Identify objects/items of real interest, concern, or value to the
public
- Develop association/foundation to support organization/agency
- Repository Accreditation
Review of repositories is needed.
Everyone must recognize the differences among disciplines.
There is a need for an alternative to AAM standards to prevent redundancy
in complying with accreditation standards.
- Archeology repository needs may differ from needs of other disciplines
- Reduce Redundancy
- Coordinate with Team 1's recommendations from mini-conference
- Develop SAA Curation Committee
- Records and Information Management (combined with databases discussion
# 14)
People who generate collections need to be aware of archival issues.
Original records should be archived; electronic media provide access but are
not an acceptable substitute for original records.
- Begins in Field -- need better training for new professionals on importance
of records
- Original Records Valued -- use archival methods -- backups, migrate
data to new software/hardware; constant upgrades
- Native American Consultation
Involve Native Americans early in process, including education, outreach,
web site development, and financial assistance.
- Early involvement (total) -- NAGPRA/other collections/international
- Collections Current Level: Federal, Tribal (tribe to tribe), Museum,
International
- Identify where consultation is required under law, develop survey, DOI
send survey, committee/team evaluate survey, briefing paper, case studies
(1) What you would like to be consulted about besides NAGPRA cultural
objects and other consultation requirements under law; (2) Process for
involvement
- $ for travel (to bring people together and allow consultation) and other
(e.g. translators)
- Natives, nationwide, to have some placing on upcoming events and be
placed on up-coming agenda
Contacts: Theresa Spears Pechanga, Cheryl Jeffrey (San
Diego Museum of Man); Ruben Sandoval, Reid Nelson, Mary McNeil (Department
of Agriculture; mary.mcneil@usda.gov);
Sue Thorsen, (sue_thorsen@nps.gov);
Myra Giesen (mgiesen@do.usbr.gov);
Kirsten Collins (kscollins@efdswest.navfac.navy.mil);
Ophelin Cruz; Nancy Pearson (npearson@gp.usbr.gov);
Karen Benally (Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Dept.; roadprog@cyberport.com).
- Native American Access to Collections
Access should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Both sides need to recognize constraints to access.
Contacts: sue_thorsen@nps.gov
Convincing Others
- Funding
Organizations should explore the creation of endowment funds permitted to
finance federal oversight.
- Endowment Fund
- Incorporate Funding needs into agency budgets and strategic plans
- All of the other interests need funding--we need real costs data to
know what to ask for and to give those we are asking an idea of what they
will get for their $. As someone "in the trenches," I can start collecting
cost data (Mary Collins; collinsm@mail.wsu.edu);
How to distribute info? Professional organizations: SHA, SAA, others?
Agencies--COE, BRec, others
- Info on budget, endowment formulation, Treasury Dept. regulations, escalation
rates, etc. to central web site (St. Louis District?)
- Need SAA curation group for D.C. contact/lobbying (revitalize SAA curation
committee)
- AAM session of federal curation--April 25, 1999 (Ron Wilson, Sonny Trimble,
Pat Leiggi, Bobbie Ferguson, Jan Bernstein) -- Should we do the same at
SAA's 2000 meeting?
- Start at bottom, send budget needs up the chain of command; start at
top, provide desire (Accountability)
Contacts: lawr.v.salo@usace.army.mil,
rebecca.j.otto@usace.army.mil,
Ron May (tivella1@aol.com) sue_thorsen@nps.gov,
nick_valentine@fws.gov
What should happen next? Who should be involved?--Trust Banker
- Education/Marketing
- Provide the museum with a more broad-based interdisciplinary understanding
of collections care:
- Contact the Assoc. and Chamber of Commerce and others -- NPR to
get on their program to explore contact with public and collections;
- Create a list use through the Internet -- problem-solving over the
Internet;
- Develop case-studies of working with the public;
- Create partnerships with the public
- Recommendation: More emphasis in the schools on science processes that
are naturally mirrored in collections work. Public Service Announcements
on radio--museum collections. Chamber of Commerce. Ecotourism--popularizing.
- Marketing--use the Web
- Worth Saving--value
- Continue outreach programs to schools--Teach, Teach, Teach
Contacts: Wilfred Wellington, Gila River Indian Community,
Beth Padon (bpadon@aol.com),
- Increasing Access
Access is a shared responsibility with federal funding and non-federal institutional
work.
Web use needs to increase for electronic access.
- Approaching the general public through non-traditional methods and
organizations
Actions:
- Identify Goals
- Identify Strategies
- Identify one or more organizations to do initial game plan and assume
responsibility
- Lobbying vs. non-lobbying professional organizations to involve, e.g.
ASC
- Copy good ideas (like those from the campaign for the $40 million flag)
Contact:janne002@tc.umn.edu
- Clarifying Ownership
The federal government is responsible for broadly defining ownership.
- Federal responsibility
- Work with professional organizations
Contacts: Theresa Spears Luiseno, celler@nv.blm.gov
- Standards
36 CFR 79 is not flexible or comprehensive enough.
- Inflexibility (addressed in pre-conference workshop)
- Will be posted on the Web
- Non-archeology disciplines have no standards like 36 CFR 79
Adjusting the Rules
- Legislation
A comprehensive strategy is needed regarding cost recovery for public services.
Individual agencies need more staff.
There needs to be a multi-agency group.
- Interagency Working Group; Federal and non-federal groups to build critical
mass
- How to gain compliance? -- Add penalties
- Legislation to comply care for historic objects, overall museum property
- Legislation for funds to be spend for the care of museum objects
Contacts: lawr.v.salo@usace.army.mil
(funding), cary.norman@nhc.navy.mil(pay
for services), Les Jensen, Army Center for Military History (legislation to
protect Federal historical collections), Marian Hansson (202-208-2532).
- Deaccessioning
36 CFR 79 needs to address this topic.
There needs to be more federal/AAM coordination.
- Lack of resources
- Agency policy not parallel to museum policy; collaborate with AAM
- Not taking in everything
Contact: Terry Childs (terry_childs@nps.gov)
- Databases
Individual needs hinder database standardization.
Each discipline requires discipline-specific solutions.
There needs to be a museum computer network, with federal coordination.
- Very Complex
- How many groups have current written database standards that could be
shared to begin to develop consensus? Individual museums/collections.
- Training in databases, demonstrations of software and hardware
- Don't re-invent the wheel--share your DB, What are they? Current software:
ACCESS, Dbase, Re:Discovery, FoxPro, ARGUS, Informex, SNAP, Paradox, Multimimsy,
Vernon Sys., Gallery Sys (TMS and Embark), Minark, Oracle
- Security--confidentiality of sensitive data
- Conference Workshop--next steps--DOI
Contacts: Andrean Lain, New York State Museum (alain@mail.nysed.gov)
David Stockwell (davids@sdsc.edu), wendy_bustard@nps.gov,
Kathy Cande, Arkansas Archeological Survey (kcande@uark.edu),barbaram@sosmail.state.mi.us,
mldonald@uarizoda.edu, asmith@lacma.org,
Ron May (tivella@aol.com)
- Permits
Permits are not standardized among the agencies, especially involving scientific
applications and reports.
There is much redundancy regarding the Reinvention of Government.
There should be an interagency working group.
Communicate the value of work to agencies and law enforcers.
- Difficult, arduous, bad guy flavor
- Reinventing Government ideas could help here to reduce redundancy (interagency
ombudsman)
- Communicating back to agencies
- Amnesty
Actions:
- Explore new NPS natural history collecting permit to all feds -- Knight
- Contact other organizations (ASC, Registrars, etc.) to see if they would
be willing to disseminate draft permits for comment.
- SPNHC meeting--commitment for at least a day on 1999 program
- Disseminate info to group members
- Fact Gathering -U.S. Attorney's office; Management authority Fish and
Wildlife--templates, use, and gaps
- Track progress of OMP (FWS) permit review (T. McIntyre)
Contacts: betty_knight@nps.gov,
bright.cheryl@nmnh.si.edu,
shelton.sally@nmnh.si.edu,
jbrown@sel.barc.usda.gov,
nick_valentine@fws.gov, thomas.mcintyre@noaa.gov,
Eugenia Apkaw (P.O. Box 361, Sacaton, AZ 85247), Paula Liken (602-644-3422)
Other Notes
- Education from Native American Perspective
- Provide Museums ...
- Army National Guard Inclusion into Federal Inventory Program
