Bookshelf
Following are suggested books and articles which should be on the bookshelf or within easy reach of every registrar or collections specialist:
Basics
Buck, Rebecca A. and Jean Allman Gilmore, eds. Museum Registration Methods 5, American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C., 2010
Gardner, James and Elizabeth Merrit, AAM Guide to Collections Planning, American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C., 2004
Malaro, Marie. A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections, 2nd Edition, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1998
National Committee to Save America’s Cultural Collections. Caring for Your Collections, Henry N. Abrams, New York, 1992
Simmons, John E. Things Great and Small: Collection Management Policies, American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C., 2005
Registration and Collections Management
Benedetti, Joan M. Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship. Scarecrow Press/Art Libraries Society of North America, 2007.
Bourcier, Paul and Ruby Rogers, The AASLH Nomenclature Committee, Nomenclature 3.0 for Museum Cataloging, AASLH/AltaMire Press, 2009
Buck, Rebecca A. and Jean Allman Gilmore. On the Road Again: Developing and Managing Traveling Exhibitions. American Association of Museums, 2003
Demakouras, Marie (editor), Basic Condition Reporting: A Handbook, 3rd edition, Southeastern Registrars Association, 1998.
Heritage preservation, The National Institute for Conservation, Emergency Response and the Salvage Wheel. Washington, DC: Heritage Preservation Inc., 2005.
National Parks Service, Museum Handbook, Part I, Museum Collections. National Park Service, Washington, D.C. 2007
The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping: The Care of Collections in Historic Houses Open to the Public. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford and Burlington, MA, 2006
Ogden, Sherelyn, ed. Caring for American Indian Objects: A Practical and Cultural Guide, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2004
Powell, Brent A. Collection Care: An Illustrated Handbook for the Care and Handling of Cultural Objects, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2016.
Texas Association of Museums, Museum Forms Book. Texas Association of Museums, Austin, Texas, 1999
Rose, Carolyn L., Catharine A. Hawks, and Hugh H. Genoways. Storage of Natural History Collections: A Preventive Conservation Approach, 1995
Rose, Cordelia. Courierspeak. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1993
Rozell, Mary. The Art Collector’s Handbook: A Guide to Collection Management and Care. Lund Humphries, London, 2014
Wythe, Debora, ed. Museum Archives: An Introduction, American Society of Archivists, 2004
Visual Resource Association, Cataloging Cultural Objects: A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images. ALA Editions, Atlanta, Ga., 2006.
Conservation
AIC Directory, American Institute of Conservation, released yearly.
Bachmann, Konstanze, ed. Conservation Concerns: A Guide for Collectors and Curators. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1992
Ellis, Margaret Holben. The Care of Prints and Drawings. New York: AltaMira Press, 1995.
Frey, Franziska, Dawn Heller, Dan Kushel, Timothy Vitale, Jeffrey Warda, and Gawain Weaver. The AIC Guide to Digital Photograph and Conservation Documentation. Washington, DC.: AIC, 2008.
Gorman, G. E. and Sydney J. Shep, ed. Preservation Management of Libraries, Archives and Museums. Facet Publishing, London, 2006.
Long, Jane S. and Richard W. Long. Caring for Your Family Treasures. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 2000.
National Trust. The National Trust Manual for Housekeeping: The Care of Collection in Historic Houses Open to the Public. Amsterdam: Elsevier: 2006.
Thomson, Garry. Museum Environment. Butterwork-Heinemann, Oxford and Woburn, Ma., 1999
Emergency Preparedness
Lord, Allyn (editor), Steal This Handbook!: A Template for Creating a Museum’s Emergency Preparedness Plan, Southeastern Registrars Association, 1994.
History and philosophy
Alexander, Edward P. and Mary Alexander. Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums, AASLH/AltaMira Press, 2007.
Case, Mary, ed. Registrars on Record: Essays on Museum Collections Management, American Association of Museums 1988
Weil, Stephen E. Making Museums Matter. Smithsonian Institution, 2002.
Legal and ethical
ALI-ABA (American Legal Institute, American Bar Association), Course of Studies Materials: Legal Problems of Museum Administration. Published annual since 1973.
Malaro, Marie C. Museum Governance: Mission, Ethics, Policy. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1994.
Steiner, Christine, ed. A Museum Guide to Copyright and Trademark
Michael Shapiro & Brett I. Miller, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, American Association of Museums, 1999
Sullivan, Lawrence E. and Alison Edwards. Stewards of the Sacred. American Association of Museums, 2004
Various. Code of Ethics and Practice of Interest to Museums, American Association of Museums 2000.
Weil, Stephen E. A Deaccession Reader. American Association of Museums, 1997
Yeide, Nancy, and Akinsha Konstantin and Amy Walsh. The AAM Guide to Provenance Research, American Association of Museums, 2001
This bibliography is expanded from one compiled by Rebecca Buck, with thanks to: Jean Gilmore, Ramona Bronkar Bannayan, Lynn A. Bethke, Karen Christenson, Susan Colletta, Janice Klein, Martha Mayberry, Chris McNamara, L. J. Richards, Stephen B. Ringle, John Simmons.
If you know of useful books, articles, or web sites which should be added to this list, please send them to info@arcsinfo.org; include the words Bibliography Addition in the subject line.
