1. 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 B 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: 1) Basic (Acc./Cat./Storage), 2) 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)

2. 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

• Emphasize individual responsibility of managers

• Requires education of upper management regarding staffing and funding

• Identify objects/items of real interest, concern, or value to the public
• Develop association/foundation to support organization/agency

• 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

• Begins in Field B need better training for new professionals on importance of records
• Original Records Valued B use archival methods B backups, migrate data to new software/hardware; constant upgrades

• Early involvement (total) B 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

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)

6. Native American Access to Collections
Access should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Both sides need to recognize constraints to access.

• Case-by-case Approach

7. 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 B 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 Ain the trenches@, I can start collecting cost data (Mary Collins; collinsm@mail.wsu.edu); How to distribute info? Professional organizations: SHA, SAA, others? Agencies B 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 curationBApril 25, 1999 (Ron Wilson, Sonny Trimble, Pat Leiggi, Bobbie Ferguson, Jan Bernstein) B 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)

What should happen next? Who should be involved? B Trust Banker

8. Education/Marketing

• Provide the museum with a more broad-based interdisciplinary understanding of collections care: 1) Contact the Assoc. and Chamber of Commerce and others B NPR to get on their program to explore contact with public and collections; 2) Create a list use through the Internet B problem-solving over the Internet; 3) Develop case-studies of working with the public; 4) 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 B museum collections. Chamber of Commerce. EcotourismB popularizing.
• Marketing B use the web
• Worth Saving B value
• Continue outreach programs to schools B Teach, Teach, Teach

9. 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

• 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)

10. Clarifying Ownership
The federal government is responsible for broadly defining ownership.

• Federal responsibility
• Work with professional organizations

11. 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

12. 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? B Add penalties
• Legislation to comply care for historic objects, overall museum property
• Legislation for funds to be spend for the care of museum objects

13. 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

14. 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 B 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 B confidentiality of sensitive data
• Conference Workshop B next steps B DOI

15. 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

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)

• Education from Native American Perspective
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