GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

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ACQUISITION: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS General Principles Al. Publish an Acquisition Policy as part of an overall Management Policy for your institution. Al. Temper rigorously disciplined acquisition with flexibility bearing in mind historical criteria and future needs. Distinguish requirements of Primary from Secondary Acquisition. Primary Acquisition A.2.1. Field collection in the service of geology: good collecting preserves specimens; bad collecting destroys sites. Good standard of documentation in the field is the essence of good collecting. A2.1.1. Evaluate the specimen according to defined criteria at every stage. A2.1.2. Good collecting practice based on 3 R's: Restraint, wRapping and Recording. A2.1.2.1. Exercise self-discipline in equating collecting activities to scientific requirements. A2.1.2.2. Wrap every specimen individually. Avoid using cotton wool. Recommended materials listed. Document and mark every specimen individually. A.2.1.2.3. Field records to include detailed geographical and geological context data, date and collector's name. Secondary Acquisition A2.2.1.1. Donations received 'in perpetuity'. Transfer documentation must be signed by donor. Beware conditions imposed by donor. A2.2.1.2. Bequests received 'in perpetuity'. Transfer documentation must be signed by legal executors. A2.2.1.3. Know the market or take advice on prices before purchase. 'Buyer beware'. A2.2.1.4. Acquisition and documentation of 'duplicate' material as a currency for exchange. A2.2.1.5. Loan agreements defined and of finite length. Insurance implications. Refuse loans on 'permanent' basis. A2.2.2.1. Responsibilities of receiving institution to source institution: legality of transfer; cultivate good relations with university to ensure compatibiiity of documentation1 collection procedures. A2.2.2.2. Cultivate good relations with private collectors to ensure good standards of documentation and collecting ethics. A2.2.2.3. Be informed of current markets, and cultivate good relationship with local dealers. Never acquire material from a dealer which has been procured by breaking any country's national laws, or which has come from an otherwise protected or vulnerable site.
ACQUISITION PREAMBLE In this Part we discuss the methods and systems by which material is gained for the collections; the means of documenting that material is covered in Part B. GENERAL PRINCIPLES In these Guidelines acquisition is defined as: the process by which material is added to collections within a curator's care. Acquired material will become catalogued and hence a 'permanent' part of a museum's collections. What follows, however, in terms of the care a curator must provide for specimens, extends also to material for which he may only have temporary responsibility, such as loans to the museum. In the next Part, in which the processes of documentation are discussed, the term 'Entry' is used for. anything coming into the museum on either a permanent or temporary basis; the term 'Acquisition' is restricted in Part E to the more legal aspects of accepting material permanently into the museum. Here, we are concerned with how material for use in the museum and added to its collections is acquired. The process of acquisition is at the 'sharp end' of curation in as much as all other curatorial activities will, to some extent, flow from this activity. This can be summed up as: 'What you acquire dictates what you do.' It is important for the curator to recognise the implications of such an axiom, since it can put the curatorial cart before the horse. The often randomly acquired collections of the past, which are a fact of every curator's life, will inevitably continue to influence curatorial activity. If, however, the curator gives considered direction to his present acquisitive behaviour, his (and his successors') subsequent curatorial activities will also have direction. To take control of the reins, today's curator, displaying professionalism, has created an alternative axiom: 'What you want to do must dictate what you acquire.' It is this notion which underlies the generally accepted view that every professionally-run museum should have a published statement of its aims and activities, of which an acquisition policy is an integral part. The first guideline of the Museums Association's 'Code of Conduct for Museum Curators' (Duggan et al. 1984) states that: "An appropriate and detailed acquisition policy is recognised as essential to the orderly management of a museum. It implies the acceptance of responsibility for the curation and physical accommodation of collections as defined in the policy for as long as they are held." The acquisition of an object - however acquired - represents a commitment of resources which has to be justifiable. It is no longer professionally defensible for a curator to accept, say, a donation, if neither the object nor its associations are remotely relevant to the activities of his institution. The acquisition policy should state the broad subject areas in which the museum will acquire material. It should also discourage the acquisition of material where the act of acquisition may conflict with the interests of
Page 1 and 2: A . GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION '-
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Part A INTRODUCTION ACQUI
Page 5 and 6: GUIDELINES FOR CURATION OF GEOLOGI
Page 7: involved at all stages of curation
Page 12 and 13: environomental (i.e. site) conserva
Page 14 and 15: PRIMARY ACQUISITION: COLLECTING AND
Page 16 and 17: clearly and indelibly labelled with
Page 18 and 19: 2.1.3.2. Geochemistry 2.1.3.3. Geop
Page 20 and 21: 2.2.1.3. Purchase 2.2.1.4. Exchange
Page 22: 2.2.2.2. Private collectors This ca
Page 25 and 26: ACQUISITION DOCUMENTATION INTRODUCT
Page 27 and 28: DOCUMENTATION OF SPECIMENS DURING P
Page 29 and 30: Against the corresponding number in
Page 31 and 32: DOCUMENTATION GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Page 33 and 34: measurements, descriptions, photogr
Page 35 and 36: Fig. 3. Cataloguing a specimen usin
Page 37 and 38: Specimen Identity Numbers may be su
Page 39 and 40: ldentn Comment Object(s) OBJECT EXA
Page 41 and 42: Cooper (1982), Mayer (1974, 1976),
Page 43 and 44: its entitlement to retain a specime
Page 45 and 46: or otherwise borrowed. Those which
Page 47 and 48: must be that in which a specimen is
Page 49 and 50: must be used. An extendible numberi
Page 51 and 52: Multiple classifications and cross-
Page 53 and 54: itself the task of describing, figu
Page 55 and 56: 4.4.1.2. Minerals 4.4.1.3. Rocks ne
Page 57 and 58: 4.4.2. Identity and identification
Page 59 and 60: The MDA Geology Specimen Card allow
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4.4.2.6. Status A specimen acquires
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4.4.3.3. Colour Colour is a notorio
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Regis, Charmouth; for Whitby, Saltw
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Redundant or shifting countries and
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4.4.4.3. Collection This system, al
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at tracing the history and fate of
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Of immediate concern is the questio
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other information of significance m
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y documentation, development, techn
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The movement of a specimen is an ev
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When a specimen is replaced in its
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the nature of a specimen and within
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5.4.2. The documentation of complex
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6.1.1.2. conditions of loans a lett
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description of borrowed items (incl
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ecome separated from their accompan
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paragraphs above. It should be note
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6.2.2.4. Outlineprocedure for dispo
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SPECIMEN PRESERVATION SUMMARY AND R
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3.8.2. Photographic materials 3.8.
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Archives C3.8.1. The care and maint
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protection and specific treatments,
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field. The excavation of unstable f
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to storing the broken pieces unasse
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Borates. Most alter (dehydrate) to
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strength. Dental silicone moulding
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solution of the particular mineral.
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Fig. 11. Table of materials which m
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all exterior doors and windows requ
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locks of rock, for later laboratory
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Both the nature of the geological m
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ideal (e.g. BM(NH) London; Nat. Mus
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a considerable commitment from the
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of all of these specimens in the ev
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Stony meteorites should be doubly b
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obscure the sectioned material. By
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mould, fungi or bacteria, fluorish
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3.8.1.4. Repair 3.8.1.5. Binding Th
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The National Reprographic Centre fo
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Museum safety OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS:
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gives regulations for the design an
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2.1.1. Storage 2.1.2. Display While
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mineral is a minor constituent are
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appears to be the dimensions of the
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Secondary types Figured specimens C
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USES COLLECTIONS PREAMBLE In this P
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The criteria for selection of speci
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definition of a locality here is di
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museum on completion or abandonment
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Specimen-based publications Publish
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For details of palaeontological nom
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2.4.5. Referred specimens When an a
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the visitor. Either way, it fails t
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methods but do remember the need fo
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EXHIEITIONTITLE "LOST WORLDS " UNIT
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REFERENCES AND APPENDICES
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REF 2 BRUNTON, C. H. C. 1980. The u
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REF 4 persons exposed to ionising
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REF 6 OBRUCHEV, D. V. 1964. Agnatha
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REF 8 TAYLOR, H. A. 1980. The arran
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APP 2 .Museum use. NB. These glues
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APP 4 Tufskin. Alfred Adams & Co. L
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APP 6 0 Silicones and thermosetting
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APP 8 BARBOLA MODELLING PASTE Alec
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APP 10 GAUZE, cotton (B.P.B. Absorb
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APP 12 PLASTONE self-hardening mode
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APP 14 SEPARATORS and RELEASE AGENT
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APP 16 STORAGE SHELVING Bruynzeel S
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APP 18 Road, Linlithgow Bridge, Lin
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APP 20 FERRY PICKERING BOXES LTD.,
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APP 20 FERRY PICKERING BOXES LTD.,
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FERRY PICKERING BOXES LTD., 53 Mead
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APP 22 MONEY HICKS LTD, 49 Clapham
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APP 24 SOLMEDIA LTD, 31 Orford Road
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APPENDIX 3 NATIONAL SCHEME FOR GEOL
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APP 29 a resource for internal use
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29. AVON, SOMERSET. GLOUCESTERSHIRE
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GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

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