Collection Management Plan: Museum Collections Repository, Western Archeological and Conservation Center

摘要

With roots going back to the 1920s archeological work of the office of Southwest National Monuments, what is now the Western Archeological and Conservation Center (WACC) was organized in 1957 by the National Park Service (NPS) as one of two research facilities of the Washington Office's Division of Archeological Studies. In 1985, in recognition of WACC's collection management and conservation potential as well as the needs of the western parks, Special Directive 85-4 was issued by the Washington Office (WASO), formally establishing DALC as the Museum Collections Repository (MCR) and recognizing collections management as a primary center function. At present, an estimated one million objects from three sources are housed at the MCR. On September 8-11, 1987, a collection management planning team visited WACC to evaluate its collection management program and initiate the plan. The Collection Management Plan (CMP) is based on three of these site visits and on subsequent discussions with the center staff. The plan will document and evaluate the center's collection management and conservation programs and make specific recommendations based on standards provided in NPS Management Policies, the Cultural Resources Management Guideline (NPS-28), NPS Museum Handbook, Special Directive 80-1 (Rev. 1986), and current literature in the museum field. The recommendations are listed in priority order within each chapter area, and are summarized in the conclusion.