Active Collections
Source: Trevor Jones, Rainey Tisdale, Elizabeth Wood authors of Active Collections Florence, KY: Routledge Press (2018).
Stop the Collections Avalanche!
Do you walk through collections storage and see row after row of nearly identical artifacts? Do you start out each year with a resolution to finally eliminate your cataloging backlog, only to fall further behind? Do you pass by the Heritage Health Index report on your office bookshelf and get a little queasy thinking about how there are thousands of history museums just like yours? Out of all the objects in your collections, can you only think of a handful that could be used in transformative exhibitions and programming? Are you slowly being buried alive under an avalanche of objects that only sort of serve your mission?
This website is an accompaniment to the book, Active Collections, it includes a Manifesto, Case Studies, Ideas, Reports, and other resources – all concerned with a new approach to sustainable collections and stewardship.
