C2C Care Course: Collections Management for Smaller Cultural Institutions

During this four-week long course, originally presented between February 12 and March 5, 2019, participants learned about essential aspects of collection management, from the acquisition and registration of objects through the care, use, and deaccessioning of objects. The importance of collection storage and exhibit environments and collection management policies will be considered as participants produce a needs assessment for their home institution’s collections.

Course Instructor: John E. Simmons, Museologica
Fee: Free!

The webinars were recorded and are now available on-demand, along with the original course handouts, quizzes and assignments. Course assignments are for self-study purposes only and will not be reviewed by instructors.The Credly badge is no longer available for this course.


Los subtítulos en español están disponibles. Elija el enlace CC en el canal de YouTube y elija el botón Settings y seleccione Spanish – Spanish CC (Spanish)

Webinar One: Introduction

Tuesday, February 12, 2019, 2:00 – 3:30 EST
Introduction to the purpose and plan for the four weeks and the course project. What is collections management and why is it important? Museums as systems and components of systems. Museum mission, acquisition and accession of objects, and deaccessioning.

Webinar Two: Day-to-Day Management of Collections

Tuesday, February 19, 2019. 2:00 – 3:30 EST
This webinar will address the day-to-day management of collections, including their organization, registration, and cataloging. The importance of collection storage environments and proper object enclosures and supports will be considered, along with inventories and housekeeping.

Webinar Three: Using the Collections

Tuesday, February 26, 2019. 2:00 – 3:30 EST
In this webinar we will focus on the use of collections, including the importance of continued collection documentation as the objects are exhibited, loaned, as used in scholarly and public research, and issues related to online collection access.

Webinar Four: Collections Management Policies

Tuesday, March 5, 2019. 2:00 – 3:30 EST
Collection management policies—what they are, why we need them, and how are they developed—will be addressed in this webinar, as well as the most important legal issues involved in managing collections. Resources and programs available for improving collection management will be identified along with training opportunities, useful publications, and the importance of regional and national professional societies.