The activities of museums, archives, and many historic places are built primarily around collections of material objects. This course discusses the management of heritage in its material manifestations in collections, primarily within museum and archival collections.
Collections cannot endure without care and management. HERM 322 deals with the acquisition, documentation, storage, and preservation of collections. Attention is also given to discarding materials from collections and issues surrounding access to collections. These activities require an understanding of how and why collections are formed, why an object is significant and worth keeping, how a collection is documented and organized, and the balance that needs to be struck between using and conserving the materials in a collection.
As noted above, conservation of collections is discussed in this course, but students should be aware that a more specialized course, HERM 339: Conservation, is available for those requiring a more in-depth study of conservation of collections.
Outline
Part I: Understanding Collections
Unit 1: Heritage Collections: The Historical Legacy
Unit 2: Museum Collections and Conciliation
Unit 3: Collection Types and Uses
Unit 4: Archival Collections
Part II Methodologies of Collections Management
Unit 5: The Process: Collecting and Documenting
Unit 6: The Process: Managing Collections Data
Unit 7: The Process: Collections Care
Unit 8: Managing Collections: Rationalizing and Deaccessioning
Unit 9: Access, Collaboration, and Repatriation
Learning outcomes
HERM 322 introduces formative issues and practices in heritage collections management. After completing the course, students will be able to:
Discuss current methods of and rationales for collecting and collection management in a range of heritage institutions.
Identify and describe some of the important theoretical and applied issues in collections management in contemporary heritage institutions.
Apply their knowledge of methods and theory for collecting, storing, documenting, and conserving heritage collections.
Evaluation
To receive credit for HERM 322, you must complete and submit all of the assignments, and achieve an overall grade of at least D (50 percent)for the course.
You will be evaluated on your understanding of the concepts presented in the course and on your ability to apply those concepts. Your final grade in the course will be based on the marks achieved for the following activities.
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1: Reflection
10%
Assignment 2: Summary Report
20%
Assignment 3: Collection Proposal
30%
Assignment 4: Research Essay
40%
Total
100%
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Willie, Crystal, ed. Standard Practices Handbook for Museums, 3rd ed. Edmonton: Alberta Museums Association, 2014. (Print)
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.