Conservation Management Plan - Tamworth Borough Council

2.3.52 Documentation and Collections Care
The Collections Officer has identified a significant backlog with documentation and collections care as part of a
review of the collections in preparation for Accreditation. In 2005 documentation standards were assessed by the
Collections Officer and found to be equivalent to level 2/3 of the MDA (Museums Documentation Association)
documentation guidelines. This is below the minimum standard for accreditation.
There was poor entry documentation, major backlogs and poor labelling.
Documentation procedures have lacked uniformity; frequent changes in procedures with staffing changes; and little
written record of procedures.
Therefore staff are currently focussing on improvements to meet Accreditation minimum standards.
A definitive inventory identifying the contents of the collections and their locations was achieved in 2009. The next
phase during 2010-2011, is to survey the condition of the collections and calculate areas for improvement
All objects within the museum’s collection require minimum standards of information to be recorded about them
in order to make them more accessible and to meet the requirements for the Museum Accreditation Scheme. This
is the minimum standards scheme for museums in the UK, administered by the Museums Libraries and Archives
Council (MLA).
There are eight primary procedures identified by SPECTRUM (the UK international standard for collections
management www.collectionstrust.org.uk/spectrum) as necessary minimum standards.
Policies that relate to these issues:
H1; H7; H8; H9
2.3.53 Collection Condition Survey
Tamworth Castle is committed to providing the best affordable levels of protection to objects in its care.
Examining objects to determine their condition is an important part of collections care, as it allows sensitive items
to be identified and appropriate action planned.
A fundamental principle to emphasise is that, deterioration caused by the use of an object (wear patterns, damage
and fading) is part of the object’s history and is different to deterioration caused by neglect once in the museum’s
care. This information needs to be recorded as part of the object’s documentation.
Tamworth Castle has a backlog in the information recorded, relating to the condition of objects within its
collections.
Policies that relate to these issues:
H5; H7; H9
94 Part 2 www.marionblockley.co.uk Tamworth Castle Conservation Management Plan