Getting Your House In Order – Documentation Procedures Manuals
Are your in-house instructions in a clear and useable format? Have you recorded key information about historic cataloguing systems, old numbering systems and policies? This session will firstly explore how to develop or review your procedures manual. We will also look at how to gather and record information about the history of your documentation systems, and the potential benefits of this information.
We will explore this topic using elements from the Collections Biography toolkit developed by Museum Development Yorkshire, alongside Collections Trust’s guidance about developing procedures manuals.
The host will present information and there will be opportunities to work in break out rooms in smaller groups. There will be time to discuss with colleagues and ask questions throughout, as well as signposting to further guidance.
There are 22 places on this workshop. Places are available for museums in the north of England, priority will be given to those which are not regularly funded by Arts Council England or central government. If there are more than two delegates from a single museum booked on a workshop we reserve the right to amend delegate lists to allow museums from the waiting list to participate.
By the end of the session, attendees will:
· Understand the importance of a procedures manual and how to produce one.
· Understand the benefits of capturing the history of the museum’s documentation systems.
· Understand the types of information that can be included in a documentation history and how to identify sources of information.
· Be able to think about how their organisation might approach capturing and recording this history.
This session is suitable for trustees, managers, staff and volunteers, particularly those new to recording documentation procedures.