Managing Costume Collections: An Essential Primer

by Louise Coffey-Webb, Robin D. Campbell (Foreword by)

Overview

Managing Costume Collections offers systematic approaches to organization, accessibility, record keeping, safety, and a host of other stewardship concerns related to managing costume collections of every type. Conceived to address needs long identified by the Costume Society of America, this guide is written for a broad spectrum of collection managers at museums, historical societies and houses, university theaters and study collections, and company archives, as well as for vintage dealers, private collectors, and living history performers.
            Drawing on the wisdom of many disciplines, Coffey-Webb takes a holistic approach to problem-solving, explaining appropriate procedures and the reasons behind them, to arm collection managers, specialists and nonspecialists alike, with sufficient tools to make informed decisions on their own. She also offers alternative solutions to the recommended guidelines.
            Although there are books on costume conservation, there is a paucity of available material on costume-collection management. Managing Costume Collections is the first work in collection management to address a wide audience, from general to academic and hobbyist to professional, interested specifically in costume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780896729575
Publisher:	Texas Tech University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2016
Series:	Costume Society of America Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Louise Coffey-Webb has worked as curator, collection manager, adjudicator, professor, conservation assistant, and independent consultant with costume collections both large and small.  Her knowledge of managing costume collections comes from moving collections into new storage, traveling and lecturing internationally, and helping save collections from imminent destruction. She divides her time between the United Kingdom and Culver City, California.

Table of Contents

Illustrations xi

Foreword xv

Acknowledgments and Photography Credits xviii

Introduction xix

Chapter 1 What Is Collection Management? 3

Implementing a Management System 3

Goals, Inventories, and Collection Policies 4

Identifying the Type, Scope, and Purpose of Your Collection 4

Making an Inventory 7

Creating Your Collection Policy 8

Deciding Who Has Access 9

Organizational Systems 13

General Organizational Systems Examples 13

Accessory Storage Systems Examples 22

Chapter 2 Record Keeping 40

Cataloguing 40

Computer Databases 42

Managing the Records 47

Numbering 48

Lexicon 49

Dating Objects 53

Measurements 54

Visual Images 55

Colors 58

Records Maintenance 60

Labeling 61

Labels 61

Tags 63

Bar Coding 67

Acquiring and Accessioning 69

Internal Revenue Service (IRS/Tax Services) 71

Deaccessioning 73

Chapter 3 Controlling the Environment 79

First Aid for Collections 79

Basic Preservation Techniques 80

Causes of Deterioration 80

What You Can Do to Help 81

A Word about Fabric Care 85

Space Concerns 87

Hanging versus Boxing versus Rolling 89

Disaster Plans and Prevention 96

Security and Theft 96

Earthquake, Fire, and Flood 99

Integrated Pest Management 107

Insurance Issues 111

Tips on Filing an Insurance Claim If Disaster Strikes 114

Appraisals and Valuations 117

Chapter 4 Exhibitions and Display 112

Accessibility and Accommodating the Public 112

Lending Your Collection 125

Shipping, Customs, and Insurance 127

Condition Reports 128

Props for Display 132

The Angels Project 133

Summary and Your Checklist of Progress 134

Appendix 1 Useful Resources: Suppliers, Conservation, and General Information and Databases 137

Appendix 2 Forms You Can Use 143

Glossary 151

Select Bibliography 159

Index 163