Here you can find recommended resources that support requirement 5.2 of the UK Museum Accreditation Scheme: To follow the primary Spectrum documentation procedures.
‘The primary Spectrum procedures are essential for managing collections effectively and making them accessible. You need to show that your museum follows these procedures or has a plan to do so. The primary Spectrum procedures are:
- object entry
- acquisition and accessioning
- location and movement control
- inventory
- cataloguing
- object exit
- loans in (borrowing objects)
- loans out (lending objects)
- documentation planning
You’ll need to show us how you implement the primary Spectrum procedures and how you intend to develop your collection documentation with a written plan showing priorities and timescales.
If we ask, you’ll need to be able to show us your documentation procedures manual which should include step-by-step instructions for completing the primary Spectrum procedures at your museum.’
(Accreditation standard, November 2018)
The procedural manual is a widely recognised device for expressing and communicating a museum’s policy and practice. It should include reference to the standards the museum uses for collecting information about museum objects. The resource describes how to develop and maintain a procedural manual, and what it might contain.
In Spectrum 5.0 there are nine primary procedures. These are the ones that most museums will use most of the time. UK museums wanting to meet the requirements of the Accreditation scheme will have to demonstrate that they meet, or have a plan to achieve, the Spectrum standard for all nine.