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Inventorying and Conservation of Collections

Objectives

a) Understand the expanded concepts of inventory, documentation, conservation and collections' management;
b) Consolidate knowledge, methods and theoretical-practical skills on each of these aspects and identify international good practices;
c) Critically analyze different types of collections and institutional contexts;
d) Diagnose, problematize and plan lines of action in museum documentation and preservation, in specific cases;
e) Improve critical analysis, reflection and research skills.

General characterization

Code

722051318

Credits

10.0

Responsible teacher

Susana Maria Simões Martins

Hours

Weekly - 3

Total - 280

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

  • ALEXANDER, Edward P., Mary Alexander, and Juilee Decker. Museums in motion: An introduction to the history and functions of museums. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017 (3a edição);
  • ASHLEY-SMITH J. 1999. Risk Assessment For Object Conservation. Oxford: Butterworth-Heineman;
  • BOYLAN, Patrick J., Running a museum: a practical handbook. International Council of Museums;
  • BUCK, Rebecca A., and Jean Allman Gilmore, eds. Museum Registration methods. AAM Press, American Association of Museums, 2010. 5 edição;
  • CAMACHO, Clara (coord.). Plano de Conservação Preventiva: bases orientadoras, normas e procedimentos. Lisboa: Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação, 2007
  • GARDNER, James e Elizabeth Merritt. AAM guide to collections planning. American Association of Museums, 2004
  • KIPP, Angela. Managing previously unmanaged collections: A practical guide for museums. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
  • SIMMONS, John E. Things great and small: collections management policies. 2006;

Teaching method

The course aims to enable students not only to analyze and conduct surveys and action plans, but also to produce an appropriate critical reflection on issues of documentation and conservation of collections, both inside and outside museums. The teaching method will blend theorectical and apllied approaches, articulating academic and museum contexts.


Each class will be organized into two parts: 1) lecture on the different topics in the syllabus, occasionally resorting to invited museum experts; 2) an in-person discussion seminar in which selected texts and cases will be examined in class.


 

Evaluation method

Continuous assessment - Evaluation: 1) Active participation in class by reading and discussing selected texts and examples; 2) Written assignment to develop and analyze a museum case study. All assessment elements are mandatory.(100%)

Subject matter

The course is structured around problematic axes for analysis and debate, aiming to familiarize students with essential notions in the area of inventorying and conservation of collections, making them more acquainted with the realities, practices, debates and challenges that characterize museums:


1. Discussion of key concepts in the area of inventorying and conserving collections;
2. Documenting and conserving collections in a museum context: inventory methodologies, digitization and collaborative practices;
3. Inventorying challenges: dispersed collections, online catalogs, documentation resources and shared research;
4. Conservation and preservation of collections: environmental control, vulnerable materials and risk management
5. Documentation and conservation of contemporary art and its memory
6. Ruptures and instabilities: restitution, disincorporation, impossible conservation and loss.