Here you can find further resources to help with the Spectrum procedure Acquisition and accessioning. For the procedure itself follow this link.
This toolkit aims to be a useful resource for people embarking on contemporary collecting or with some previous experience of the practice. It is also for anyone wishing to learn more about some of the processes.
This video shows how to mark objects using the Paraloid B72 method.
This toolkit is an introduction to contemporary collecting, for museum staff and volunteers who don’t have direct experience of acquiring recent material and who want to understand the basics. It aims to provide advice and guidance on how to undertake contemporary collecting projects, outlining some of the practical considerations that need to be made and showcasing examples from museums.
This resource outlines bulk accessioning and how to apply it to different collections.
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.
The aim of the Collections Trust Documentation planning pack is to assist museums to produce their own documentation plans. The guidelines contained in the pack can be used for all types of documentation planning; they are not intended as the only way to produce a documentation plan and are specifically to help the documentation planning process as required by UK Museum Accreditation Scheme.
The British Schools Museum have created a documentation procedural manual, which sets a useful example for appropriate contents and structure when creating your own procedural manual for Accreditation.
This resource offers guidance on looking after your accession records to ensure they are secure and tamperproof.
This Act puts into UK law the 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols. Section 17 creates the offence of dealing in unlawfully exported cultural property.
Collections Trust supplies pre-printed, triplicate forms that support the Spectrum Acquisition procedure (a Spectrum Primary Procedure) and are used to transfer the ownership of an object from the owner to the museum.
Collections Trust supplies registers which are used by museum practitioners worldwide to manage museum collections. Accession registers support the Spectrum Acquisition procedure (a Spectrum Primary Procedure). They are used to create a permanent record of accessions to the museum’s long term collections.
Collections Trust supplies pre-printed, triplicate forms that support the Spectrum Object entry procedure and are used whenever an object enters the museum.
This resource from National Museums Liverpool (NML) shows their full acquisition and disposal policy, including the policies and collecting priorities of different NML divisions and departments.
This resource is a template for a museum acquisition and disposal policy.
This policy is designed to create a uniform region-wide approach to the preparation and deposition of archaeological archives. The document has been developed in partnership with museums throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region, local government archaeological officers, English Heritage, the University of York and a number of field archaeological units.
Whether you are working in museums, teaching, researching or studying, the Museum Ethnographers Group (MEG) is the central point of contact for museum ethnography.
This resource from National Museums Liverpool outlines guidelines on marking and labelling methods. It includes a table which offers suggestions for how and where to mark different object types.
This checklist will help you follow up lines of enquiry to establish the ownership and history of the object you are acquiring. It is a useful checklist for both cultural heritage and commercial organisations.
Produced as a deliverable of the EU-funded ATHENA project, this report provides an Assessment of the Requirement for Persistent Identification of Objects, Collections and Institutions.
This resource provides a checklist for buying collections from online sources. It is list of considerations when purchasing a work of art or an antique from an online auction house.
This fact sheet discusses the 1970 threshold established by UNESCO to combat the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of stolen art and antiques/antiquities.
These guidelines on the labelling and marking of museum objects were developed by the Collections Trust with the help of Vivien Chapman at the National Conservation Centre, National Museums Liverpool (NML).
As part of its work with documentation standards the Collections Trust (and its predecessor body MDA) has, since the 1970s, been developing and maintaining a scheme which allows the identification of UK collection-holding organisations and their collections through “codes” which are unique to each organisation.
This template from Arts Council England provides a development policy framework, which sets out the principles, standards and legislation for responsible and ethical acquisition (and disposal) of collections.
This resource gives guidance on numbering your collection, on different types and formats and a summary of commonly occurring issues surrounding numbering.
This resource from the International Council of Museums (ICOM) outlines ethical advice and guidance for the international museum community, which may be of reliance when undertaking international loans.
This legislation is relevant to collections held for anatomical teaching in Scotland, where the disposal of human remains from the Anatomy collection is the legal duty of the Licensed Teacher of Anatomy.
This Act deals with finds of treasure in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is relevant to museums which are offered treasure as potential acquisitions, often as a result of a chance find or as part of an archaeological archive.
CITES is an international agreement between governments. This multilateral treaty aims to protect endangered plants and animals and relates to the acquisition of biological and geological material in developing collections.
This legislation applies to museums holding or intending to hold human remains under 100 years old. The Act regulates the acquisition, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue.
This legislation applies to museums holding or intending to hold human remains under 100 years old. The Act regulates the acquisition, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue.
This legislation refers to the acquisition of cultural property and makes it an offence to acquire, dispose of, import or export ‘tainted’ cultural objects, or agree or arrange to do so; and for connected purposes.
This legislation from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a multilateral international agreement dedicated to fighting the illicit trafficking of cultural property.
In this short video, a conservator demonstrates the techniques for labelling and marking the paper objects within your collection.
This publication details Scotland-specific guidelines for the care of human remains in museum collections including their care, associated ethics, display, use and issues around repatriation requests. It also includes comprehensive legal guidelines in a Scottish context.
This resource from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport outlines good practice guidance for museums acquiring and holding human remains from any period and aims to offer practical support in the care of human remains in museums.
The Museum Association Code of Ethics defines the ethical principles which guide museum practice and underpin policy and practice regarding the development of museum collections.