Documentation+Procedures

**Maintenance of a Documentation Procedural Manual**
Good documentation is fundamental to collections management to provide access and accountability for the collections. Every effort will be made to adhere to the procedures set down in the Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre.

//Documentation, the management of information about collection, is the key to unlocking the potential of our museums. It is more than simply a means of managing an object in a collection. It is a way of turning that object into a working artefact, a vital part of the creative process which transforms recognition into inspiration for our users. (Forewo////rd, SPECTRUM on-line edition at http://www.mla.gov.uk/search)//

The Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre will document the collections to meet the relevant standards outlined in SPECTRUM: The UK Museum Documentation Standard (online edition at http://www.mla.gov.uk/search -produced by MDA). This will ensure professional standards are maintained and there is a high level of compatibility with the documentation of other Museum Services. As a minimum the following primary procedures required under accreditation will be followed: > - Security copy of the accession register > - Marking or labelling objects with accession numbers
 * Object entry
 * Acquisition - Maintenance of an accession register
 * Location and movement control
 * Cataloguing
 * Object exit
 * Loans in
 * Loans out

The Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre will consider purchasing __PastPerfect Version 5__ (available: __[]__ ) or Microsoft Access 2010 (available: __[|www.microsoft.com]__ ) and ensure that its copy of the software is upgraded to the current latest version to prevent redundancy and obsolescence of data, and that it is run on appropriate hardware. The Centre will ensure that the necessary software licenses are up-to-date and any relevant fees are paid.

To ensure the survival of collections information all data will be recorded using good quality materials and backup copies of all important records will be kept. Storing the database on a network drive that is backed up daily by perhaps Rothwell Town Council would give more security. Independent backup of the data in the database should be made on a monthly basis. The Manager of the Centre will ensure that copies of all entry records, accession registers, exit forms and correspondence are made at least every six months. All copies should be stored in a separate building from the original records.

All objects entering the collections will be marked with accession number directly onto the object according to the guidelines in the Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre Documentation Procedural Manual.

All new acquisitions will be marked with the accession number, using the year and part number (e.g. 2011.1, 2011. 2, 2011.3), directly onto the object according to the guidelines of the Centre’s Documentation Manual. Existing objects in the Centre will be numbered with their unique stock or manufacturing number. The Museum identification code will be on all loans out to distinguish and identify them.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">Up-to-date location records for all objects will stored on the computerised documentation system. If objects on display are to be removed for a temporary period of up to three months a card will be inserted to authorise the removal. Any changes in location for longer than one working day will be recorded on the documentation system.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">Any conservation work undertaken internally or by accredited external conservators will be recorded and a brief summary entered onto the main computerised documentation record. All paper conservation records will be kept filed in accession number order with the associated information files.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">All loans made for up to five years will be made on an object entry form. These loans will be entered onto the database as part of the cataloguing process. All loans made for less than one year will be monitored on a six monthly basis and those between one and five years will be monitored annually.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">An inventory of the collections will be undertaken on a five year rolling programme, supervised by the Manager of the Centre. All loans and collections used frequently, for example the photograph collections, will be inventoried annually.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">The Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre has a backlog of objects that entered the archive before comprehensive standards in collection policy had been developed, therefore needs to weed this part of the collection and complete the necessary documentation.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">The Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre will adhere to the principles of data protection within the Data Protection Act and specifically within the terms upon which the Centre is registered.

< Collection Development Documentation Plan>

__References__:
Braintree District Museum Collections Management Policy. //Braintree District Council.// Retrieved 29th November 2011 from __<span class="wiki_link_ext">[] __