[Kaleigh]

I am a current Museum Studies Graduate Student at the George Washington University. I am curious about how museums deal with families visiting to view collections donated by, or related to, their family. In my experience as an observant intern, the visits were overwhelming and stressful. How do you handle this situation? What are specific policies that are in place to ensure access, while also protecting the collections?

Thank you for your input!
Kaleigh Ratliff

[Sara Andrews]

Hi Kaleigh,

I work primarily in book and paper preservation – but I’ve emailed our Museum Curators as well as our Archives curator at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Historical Museum to see if they have any advice on this topic. Will post any advice they have – watch this space!

Sara Andrews
Library Preservation Specialist
Wisconsin Historical Society

[Sara Andrews]

Hi Kaleigh,

This is from our archives curator/not museum so it’s a bit of a different perspective but this is what he said:

“I find that families are proud that their family member’s life and experiences are worthy of preservation in the archives and often relieved that the documentation of their ancestor’s life is now preserved and safe. As far as access is concerned, we try to be as accommodating as possible, especially if the family member also the donor.”

Jonathan Nelson
Collection Development Archivist
Wisconsin Historical Society

[Sara Andrews]

This is from our Museum curator:

“Access is no different than other visitors (which include researchers). For museum collections, people correspond with a curator and decide what they’d like to see. They make an appointment with the curator (we don’t have reading room hours like archives). The visitor fills out a researcher form and shows ID. Their bags are lockered. The curator brings the requested items out and the visitor fills out a call sheet that lists the items they’re viewing and has rules for handling. I can’t say that any of our experience has been “overwhelming and stressful.””

Paul

Kaleigh – the overwhelming response from a few other people is that the general experience has not been overwhelming and stressful for staff or family members – can you give me a specific example of a problem you have witnessed.

Sara Andrews
Library Preservation Specialist
Wisconsin Historical Society

[Kaleigh]

Sara,

Thank you for your responses. During one experience there were around eight visitors who came to view a collection that a family member had donated. It was overwhelming due to the number of visitors, and stressful over the fear that folders would become disorganized. I understand that my experience is not telling of all collection viewing visits. I was looking for specific policies and practices that make the experience enjoyable and special for the visitors, while ensuring the safety of the collections. Your Museum curator mentioned several points that would have been helpful in my situation.

Thank you!

Kaleigh

[Evelyn]

I have done a few of these viewings of family collections. Visits went very well but the preparation before hand was a bit overwhelming. Some families donated multiple collections under different donor names so I had to locate items from all these collections a pick a sampling. I had to lay them out for viewing then place them back in storage after. I always had documentation on hand in case they had questions. I took notes as often these family members added to the provenance of what we have.

[Kaleigh]

Evelyn,

Thank you for your response. My supervisor also took notes in hopes of adding to the provenance, which I found extremely smart and helpful. I found that the visits were beneficial to all, and they could have been even better with clear policies.

Thank you!

Kaleigh

[Evelyn]

Clear policies are the key. For group tours we have to go through are tour supervisor, for individuals and families they usually contact me directly.

[Author]

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