ay inIntroduction
The Museum Rotterdam has been constantly renovating itself and questioning its role as a city museum. After a decision to focus on the present and future of the city (instead of on its history alone), it has been researching and experimenting several innovative initiatives (especially in contemporary collecting), seeking ways to involve and include Rotterdam's diverse population, and collaborating with other heritage institutions. This openness and ambition to become more and more relevant to Rotterdam and its people, however, meet obstacles and challenges like budget cuts, strict regulations for collection management that prioritize conservation, pressures for increasing visitor numbers, and insufficient political support from the city government – often represented by City Council -, which owns the collection and has power over the museum's decisions.
The museum has a significant collection of more than 110.000 objects gathered since its origins as a Museum of Antiquities in the early 1900's, whose management has continuously changed over time. The fact is that a very small part of it is displayed or used in other ways, although 40.000 items can be visualized online with basic information. By keeping them in the storage, most cultural-historical, social-societal and use-usability value, according to the model by The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, is lost or reduced to mere latent or potential value, since they are only concretized in meaning-making encounters between object and people. Over-privileging preservation (for never-reached "future generations") over use and development (by and for the multiple generations that live now), overlooking the "accessibility" which is in the centre of this "collection management triangle", as the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency's model also suggests, can undermine the overall value of the collection. Making the collection relevant for the present is exactly what Museum Rotterdam seeks now.
In order to enhance the value of the collection and strengthen the institution's presence in today's Rotterdam, especially in the life of Rotterdammers, we have proposed, as advisors, that Museum Rotterdam rethink the whole organisation, what also implies reviewing its collection management. In this new model, sharing – which goes beyond collection accessibility – is its basic principle. This document is the new collection policy plan that will support it.
Although this plan was based on all the inputs that we had from the Museum Rotterdam's director and staff, and also on the information contained in the museum's previous collection policy plans (2013-2016 and 2017-2020), it has been written "from scratch", with a fresh and critical approach. Besides the emphasis on accessibility and use of the collection as determinant factor of value and the relation to the future we envisaged for the museum in the Strategic Advice, we also propose a new configuration for the document itself. The previous ones are overloaded with information that is not necessary for the management activities and to the external stakeholders’ understanding of Museum Rotterdam, such as the long descriptions of the objects that compose it and the highlights that illustrate how interesting and important the collection is – probably addressing the city government as sponsor -, which could as well be in a separate document or in the website. Another critical remark is the classification based on the types of objects, alluding to a very object-centred collection inherited from past collection management practices and that opposes to our story-based proposal. This new collection policy plan, situated in 2030, when the new Museum Rotterdam is expected to be fully operating, aims at overcoming these weaknesses.
Collection policy plans, as any other organizational plans, are collective constructions. They must not only involve different stakeholders, but also be internally developed by multifunctional teams. That is why this one was also done by a multidisciplinary duo composed of a professional with background in Conservation of Cultural Heritage and a professional with a background in Business Administration, Design and production of exhibitions and other cultural events, who were also supported by a big and diverse team of Master's students and professors in the Reinwardt Academy. After some weeks developing ideas separately, both realized that our principles were very similar and, our solutions, complementary. Although these ideas could stand "on their own", we have decided to combine them to present a stronger proposal to the client.
As Museology majors, we have learned to be open-minded, connected, creative and active, yet critical and thoughtful when we engage in different projects. Our aim is to inspire impact by truly experiencing and understanding the complexities around the museum field. For this module, Collection Dynamics, Museum Rotterdam is our real-life case study.
COLLECTION POLICY PLAN 2029-2032
Preface
This document covers the most important matters regarding collection management in Museum Rotterdam: the collection's purposes, value, selection criteria and processes, documentation, uses and care.
The collection policy plan shows a picture of the situation of the Museum Rotterdam at this moment in time. It is, therefore, a dynamic document, reassessed every four years to ensure that it continues to reflect the changes in the museum’s four-year strategic plan. In addition, it functions as an all-encompassing foundation for the future plans of Museum Rotterdam, thereby assisting the museum in (re)considering the aims and objectives of the organization, both long and short term, and the priorities to be ascribed to its different activities.
This edition gives a big emphasis on the accessibility of the collection to the public, since sharing has been the guiding principle of the Museum Rotterdam's collection management since 2018, as detailed in section 1.
This collection policy plan is written for anyone that is interested in Museum Rotterdam’s collecting practices and purposes. It is meant to be seen as:
Guidance for the internal, and external, personnel that is involved in the collection decision making;
A guideline for all of the stakeholders of Museum Rotterdam: The City Council, the Board of Trustees, Associate Institutions and Rotterdam citizens;.
A reference point when collaborating, examining and exchanging information with other institutions;
The reference against which actual collection practices can be adjudicated.
The collection policy plan must be available for the public to view and access, for transparency and in order to stimulate appreciation of their significance. A copy of this plan for 2029-2032, like all the previous ones, can be found on the Museum Rotterdam’s website (https://museumrotterdam.nl) in Dutch and in English.
1 The Museum Rotterdam
The origin of Museum Rotterdam goes back to 1905, when it was founded as the "Museum of Antiquities, by a bourgeois elite that wanted to educate Rotterdam’s growing working class population. It later became the Historical Museum of Rotterdam, whose mission was to glorify Rotterdam’s Golden Age in a time that the modern city centre needed its previous historical references due to the destruction of the city in the bombardment of 1940". In 2010, the museum decided to drop the ‘Historical’ in its name and focus on the present-day life.
Museum Rotterdam has been constantly questioning its role as a city museum and researching and experimenting several innovative projects. However, the museum’s ambition to become more relevant was meeting some challenges like budget cuts, strict normatives for collection management which prioritized conservation, pressures for increasing visitors numbers, and an insufficient support from the city government. In order to overcome these challenges, the museum decided to look at its collection and how it is used.
In 2018, Museum Rotterdam experienced a major transformation: the creation of a whole new model of city museum that takes a political stand on the governance of the collection, on the role of city museums and on the role that Rotterdammers have in their heritage. Its mission and vision were then redefined:
Mission: “To help present generations discover and reflect together upon Rotterdam’s urban heritage for the sake of a better city for all – every day, everywhere”.
Vision: “To become an inseparable part of the city, a vital connector in the heritage sector and a state of mind for Rotterdammers”.
The new Museum Rotterdam has sharing – which goes beyond collection accessibility – as its basic principle, which consists of:
Making the entire collection accessible to the public;
Sharing the guardianship and care of the collection with Rotterdam's inhabitants and institutions;
Sharing with everyone interested the roles of researching and promoting Rotterdam's heritage;
Giving everyone the means and the encouragement to share their own perspectives on Rotterdam's heritage;
Spreading the spirit of entrepreneurship and the awareness that all Rotterdammers share the responsibility for making the city the best place (for everyone) to live;
Sharing space with Rotterdammers.
The Museum Rotterdam consists of two related parts: The Museum City and The Rotterdam Institute of Research (RIR).
The Museum City
The Museum City is a permanent and ever-changing exhibition that displays the Museum Rotterdam’s collection all over the city, in indoors and outdoor public spaces, as a means of starting critical conversations with the audience about contemporary issues. The collection is, therefore, a layer that enriches the whole city, present in the everyday life of every Rotterdammer and in the journey of every tourist. In the Museum City, Rotterdammers are partners in the decision-making processes of display, care and promotion of the collection, as well as in their enrichment with new stories and meanings.
The Rotterdam Institute of Research (RIR)
The Rotterdam Institute of Research (RIR) is a meeting point for everyone who wishes to do research or learn more about the city with the collections, resources and programs of Museum Rotterdam. It is a dynamic and democratic environment that supports and inspires consciousness and understanding of – and is responsive to – the social and cultural issues of present-day Rotterdam society, by means of its four centres: the Rotterdam City Archives, the Rotterdam Urban Research Center, the Rotterdam Conservation Center and the City Academy.
For further details, please refer to the website: museumrotterdam.nl.
2 Overview of the collection
The current collection of Museum Rotterdam is the merging of the original collection of objects of this museum with the physical and digital collection of the Rotterdam City Archives (Stadsarchief Rotterdam). This decision was taken in 2018 as part of the transformation of the museum into the current model, in order to make research about the city easier, as well as to strengthen both organisations that had similar purposes and challenges as urban heritage institutions in Rotterdam regarding collections. It therefore comprises over 110.000 objects, hundreds of thousands of publications, documents and recordings and and over 14 miles of archival documents, dating from 1201 to today, besides innumerable stories, also available online.
In the new Museum Rotterdam, the collection has three main functions:
As a starting point for critical reflections upon Rotterdam's contemporary issues, in the Museum City;
As sources of information for research about the city of Rotterdam, in the RIR;
As means to attract the interest of people in Rotterdam's urban heritage;
As a way to culturally enrich the cityscape and make Rotterdam an even more interesting and welcoming place to live.
The collection of the Museum Rotterdam is not for unreachable "future generations", but for all the present generation over time.
The owners of the collection are all the citizens of Rotterdam. They are represented by the Rotterdam City government, which must ensure that the interests and wishes of the people whom they serve, concerning the collection, are met.
The Museum Rotterdam is the manager of the collection. This means that, on behalf of the Rotterdam City Government, we must materialise those citizens' interests and wishes regarding the collection, using our expertise, time, efforts and commitment to this purpose.
The citizens of Rotterdam, by their turn, are expected to collaborate with the conservation, value enhancement and accessibility of their own collection, by being respectful to what the encounter in the Museum City and the RIR, by providing inputs (knowledge, opinions, emotions, desires, etc.) to help the museum constantly improve collection management and achieve its mission, by helping share the collection, or by participating more actively in the museum's activities.
3 Collection value
Our main task is to make sure that the public collection we manage is valuable for its owners – the public -, rather than for ourselves or for the government as institution.
As a city collection, we assume that:
For the people, it is valuable when it makes their life in the city better and more meaningful;
For the museum, the ultimate value of the collection (or of each item) is the extent to which it contributes to the achievement of our mission, by helping people discover and reflect together upon Rotterdam’s urban heritage for the sake of a better city for all.
As a city museum, we do not emphasize monetary or artistic value, nor quantity, intactness or rarity per se, but rather the associations and stories they allow for.
Value is not inherent to things, but rather concretized in the meaning-making encounters between object and people. Therefore, collections move from mere potential or latent value to real value only when they are accessible to the public. Accessibility is the core of collection management also in the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency model.
Once it is accessible, it is possible to assess value in terms of:
How meaningful it is to the audience;
How much it helps people discover and reflect upon the city's urban heritage and contemporary issues.
Audiences are diverse, so the way different people or groups relate to items over time will also vary. Impact is also a challenging aspect to observe, since they can be gradual and long-term (what does not reduce its importance) and different for distinct sectors of society. The methods and tools we use to capture that diversity of relations and impacts and make decisions from it must be continuously revised and improved.
For Museum Rotterdam, the value of the collection is not something to be just assessed, but also something to be actively created. Anything can have its value enhanced.
4 What we collect
Museum Rotterdam is story-centered, rather than object centered. For this reason, our collection is organized by themes instead of by types of objects. Everything we collect and display is related to one or more of the following themes of Rotterdam:
Urban landscape
Economy
Technology
Identity & Expression
Conviviality
Quality of life
Political relations
We collect in two levels, which enrich each other:
The stories themselves (about the past and the present).
Items* that help illustrate and/or discover the stories, by which we mean:
Movable objects
Photographs (analogue or digital)
Videos (analogue or digital)
Sound records (analogue or digital)
Written documents (analogue or digital)
Publications
Softwares, games and virtual projects
Non-movable elements (in situ) (e.g. architecture, urban furniture, trees)
Performances
* All items can be either utilitarian (used in everyday life), documental or artistic. Storytelling makes no distinction between them.
We do not collect people or non-human animals, only their stories, images, sounds and creations, as listed above.
The collection needs to reflect the diversity of the people of Rotterdam.
5 How we collect
Stories are collected by means of:
Projects specifically designed to collect stories of Rotterdam(mers) – for instance, the Museum Rotterdam's annual photography, video and literary contest;
The findings of the research developed in the Rotterdam Institute of Research by curators, professionals, academics and other collaborators and users;
The discussions that take place in the Rotterdam Lab and the programs of the City Academy;
The process of allocation of items in the Museum City, in which the museum and the owner, manager or dweller of the place inform and negotiate the coherence or importance of something being there, thus building up meaning;
The comments that "displayers" can write and display by the items they have in their premises;
Approaches and reactions to what the museum displays and promotes (on social media, on the Museum City App, in person or through other channels).
Observation of the interactions in the Museum City;
Meeting opportunities in events, the RIR's coworking space or other networking activities.
Stories are only considered as collected when documented in the form of texts, images, video or audio recordings. Since stories themselves are intangible and uncountable, what is managed is their documentation.
Items are collected in three ways:
Acquisition, in the form of purchase or donation. It is most often applied to portable or digital items, although we do not completely exclude the possibility of acquiring non-portable ones (e.g. buildings);
Appropriation: we use items that still belong to others as part of our storytelling, adding information, promoting interactions with the public, engaging it in critical thought. It is the case, for example, of architecture, the objects that people own and display on their windows, some artworks, and also the items loaned by the museum in the traditional way;
Creation: we create new elements together with artists and/or citizens, as either commissioned or collective projects, such as performances, urban interventions, and installations, which can use items from the collections. Creations can subsequently be acquired or appropriated.
Items are only considered as collected when they become part of the exhibition in the Museum City or are available in the City Archives. When appropriated items cease to be part of the exhibition, a documentation of them is kept as collection.
Collecting is a shared responsibility of the curators of the Museum Rotterdam and City Archives, as a multidisciplinary team. They must continuously consult the citizens of Rotterdam in regard to their wishes and interests, whether in the regular museum programs or through digital platforms such as the museum App or through social media.
All forms of collecting must be formalized by means of a contract.
6 How we use the collection and make it accessible
The entire collection of the Museum Rotterdam is accessible to the public for free, both physically and online.
Stories are used:
In the elaboration of texts that accompany the exhibits in the Museum City, both physically and online, and the online collection;
As inputs for research and project development;
As content for the museum’s printed and online publications, events and website.
Items must preferably be on display in the Museum City, whether alone, in ensembles, or integrating an artistic and/or community project.
There may be, however, situations in which some items will not be exhibited:
No individual or institution has manifested yet an interest in or accepted to have the item displayed in their premises;
The item is part of the Museum City but has been temporarily taken to the Conservation Centre for restoration, analysis, or to be protected from longer exposures;
The item was displayed in the Museum City, but the audience reacted negatively or with indifference after several attempts;
The item is important for immediate research and has been allocated prioritarily for this purpose;
It was an appropriated item with a temporary contract of "use", or a permanent one that has been revoked.
In the abovementioned cases, acquired items must be accessible in the Rotterdam Institute of Research's City Archives for curators, researchers, participants of the City Academy, and any other citizens who are interested. Appropriated items can be allocated in the Rotterdam Institute of Research if they are portable and the owners or guardians agree, be kept available in situ for research, or "returned" to its original state.
If the item is not appropriate or requested for research either, the following uses are possible:
Loans to other museums (preferably) or to other cultural or research institutions, giving preference to Rotterdam organisations. The contract must guarantee that the items will be accessible to the public, honouring the museum's principle of sharing;
Permanent transference to other museums (preferably) or to other cultural or research institutions, giving preference to Rotterdam organisations. The contract must guarantee that: a) the items will be accessible to the public; and b) the Museum Rotterdam will be able to borrow the items for exhibitions or other projects, with priority among other institutions.
We do not destroy anything in our collection. The fact that items can be employed in artistic projects for exhibition in the Museum City highly reduces the number of things that have no use for us. However, if still no other use is envisaged for an item, it must be permanently donated to a Rotterdam citizen or group of citizens for personal use. The availability must be announced on the museum's website and other means of communication, and the choice, if there are two or more candidates, must be based on the justification that they present in terms of destination, meaningfulness, and with whom else they intend to share.
7 How we manage information
All the collection is kept by the City Archives in the Rotterdam Institute of Research.
Physical documents must be, when possible, also digitized. Tridimensional objects must be 3D-scanned in order to conserve its main physical aspects for the future and allow for reproductions for appreciation and use.
The Museum Rotterdam is committed to creating and maintaining good quality and up to date information about its collection, which is a key to enable access to the collection and research. It must include:
Identification of the item, based on the Dublin Core;
Location;
Condition of the item;
The treatment history of the item;
The stories related to it, to which special attention must be given.
The Archive's database softwares must be always updated and protected against attacks and potential technical problems, in order to safeguard the stored data and the digital collections. An updated backup must also be maintained.
The whole database must be available online for public access, with friendly and attractive interface. The platform allows any user, including the public, to add information or questions about the viewed item, to be analysed by the Archives' staff and further researched.
The ongoing activities of Museum Rotterdam, such as exhibitions, research, collaboration with other institutes and museums must be recorded.
8 How we care for our collection
Collection care – preservation, risk management, conservation and restoration – has always been a core duty of Museum Rotterdam, which acknowledges its importance.
For Museum Rotterdam, deterioration of the collection is an inevitable, natural process. Preservation means taking all the steps that are necessary to ensure the integrity of the collection over time and to conduct conservation only when required, in order to ensure the greatest possible accessibility to all Rotterdammers, for as long as possible, in the Museum City and in the Rotterdam Institute of Research.
The collection of Museum Rotterdam is cared for by specially carrying preventive conservation. If it cannot be accomplished, then interventive measures can be considered.
The aim is to strive a balance between the long-term preservation of the collection through risk management process and by the providing the adequate training not only to the museum staff, but also to the volunteers and the citizens of Rotterdam who wish to participate in the care of the collection.
8.1 Condition of the Collection
The collection of Museum Rotterdam is in good conditions since in the past the Museum Rotterdam prioritized the conservation of its collection. Nonetheless, the conservation staff continues to monitor the collection by assessing their condition and deciding if further treatments are needed.
Since the collections have been displayed in the city of Rotterdam, the conservation staff, located at the Conservation Center, has developed a complete conservation strategy and program that fits the implementation of the accessibility and sharing of the collection. Moreover, the conservation professionals recommend schedules for preventive conservation and, if needed, for restoration.
8.2 Conservation
The Rotterdam Conservation Center (RCC) is in charge of providing the conservation to the museum’s collection. The aim of the Conservation Center is to help Museum Rotterdam keep the collection outside, accessible to the public, by studying and taking care of it.
The interdisciplinary body of heritage professionals of the Conservation Center provides the necessary guidelines, and their knowledge, to the citizens of Rotterdam on how to monitor the collection, and if needed, on how to conduct preventive and interventive treatments on the objects.
The conservation of the collection is, therefore, a shared role. The conservation specialists provide their knowledge, and expertise, by organizing workshops around the topic of ‘Conservation of the Cultural Heritage’. These workshops prioritize not only collections research and conservation theory, but also provide practical concepts such as identification of problems, planning an object’s conservation and collection care training.
The conservation consist of two parts, or processes: 1) preventive conservation, and 2) interventive conservation, also known as restoration.
8.2.1 Preventive Conservation
The role of preventive care, also known as preventive conservation, is to avoid, block, or minimize the agents of deterioration. By using preventive care techniques, the imperceptible deterioration that occurs on a daily basis – and is cumulative over time – and the occasional catastrophic damages can be limited .
8.2.1.1 Preventive Conservation in the Museum City
The conservation that is conducted for the objects displayed in the Museum City consists in a continuous exchange of expertise between the conservation experts, who will monitor the changes in the objects, and the citizens, who will in turn learn, by working closely with the conservators, how to properly care for the objects.
Ongoing vigilance and attention is needed to ensure that damage does not occur to the collection objects; to identify the trends and problems, and to take the appropriate actions to maintain the collection in good conditions.
Preventive care programs will be carried out systematically by the conservators and curators. The collections need to be inspected on a regular basis in order to minimize the damage from the agents of deterioration and to keep the conservation treatment at a minimum.
In the Museum City, the objects will be placed in areas that help tell the story of every individual object. Conservation, in this case is not the priority. Once the location of the object is decided, the measures that prevent further damage will be taken into consideration as a way of effectuating preventive care. This means that some structures or spaces can be adapted to house the collection in order to maintain collection storage environmental, preservation and protection needs. For example, doors can be treated to limit moisture and outside air penetration; buildings can be readily adapted to block daylight, UV and IR radiation.
Displaying the collection in the city should not be a problem. Special attention should be given, in the summer, to objects that are placed in enclosed spaces that have exterior walls of masonry construction.
The individuals and organizations that display items in their premises in the Museum City share their guardianship and, therefore, the duty of taking care of them by following all the orientations from the Conservation Centre for the reduction of risks.
Since the collection is displayed in the city, it is expected that the Rotterdammers feel that it is indeed their heritage and be respectful to it, provide further care of the objects.
The Conservation Centre will also share knowledge and assist owners, managers or users of the appropriated items in order to help them prevent deterioration.
8.2.1.2 Preventive Conservation in the Conservation Research Center
The Conservation Research Institute has as a priority the conservation of the collection of Museum Rotterdam. The conservation of the collection consists in two processes:
the first process, consists in monitoring and managing the risks of the objects that are placed in the city;
The Conservation Center must work closely, in interdisciplinary teams, with other scholars, museums or institutions, and experts from different backgrounds in order to expand and enhance its knowledge in finding new methods of conducting conservation and restoration.
8.2.2 Interventive Conservation
Interventive conservation is a conservation treatment that is effectuated by deliberately altering the chemical and/or physical aspects of an object, in order to prolong the object’s existence.
If the preservation of the collection cannot be satisfactorily accomplished through preventive conservation, then interventive measures can and should be considered.
Treatment may consist of stabilization and/or restoration:
Stabilization constitutes treatment procedures that maintain an object’s integrity and minimize further deterioration;
Restoration consists of treatment procedures intended to return a museum object to a known or assumed state, or simply just to improve its appearance.
8.2.2.1 Restoration in the Museum City
No restoration should be carried out in the Museum City.
8.2.2.2 Restoration in the Conservation Research Center
In accordance with the new principle of Museum Rotterdam, conservation treatments (stabilization and restoration) are to be done as a last resort, kept to a minimum and must be reversible. This approach allows the value of use of an object to be the primary over the conservation.
If an object of the collection is in bad conditions, it will be restored and kept in the Conservation Center. Since accessibility, and use, are key elements of the mission of Museum Rotterdam, the object can be placed in an exhibition, together with other objects, in the Conservation Center.
8.3 Risk Management
Risk can be defined as the ‘effect of uncertainty on the achievement of objectives’
Risk management does not only involve immediate risks to the safety of objects and collections, but encompasses all the threats to which they are exposed; both events (such as fire, flooding and theft) as well as processes (including fading due to light, cracks from dehydration, and tarnishing caused by pollution).
Risk management is part of a decision-making process that tries to make the uncertainties of the future explicit and controllable by listing the consequences and assessing their likelihood and effect.
Everyone, almost unconsciously, manages the risks on a daily basis. The greater the consequences, the more time we are willing to spend considering the options.
Risk Management is a shared responsibility, between the ‘guardians’ – the citizens of Rotterdam – and the professionals, that help ensure the longevity of the Museum Rotterdam collection.
Risk management will be effectuated throughout the city and in the Conservation Research Center.
8.3.1 Risk Management in the Museum City
In the Museum City, it is necessary to set priorities and plan mitigation strategies for the objects that are located in different places, such as the preservation of the objects that are displayed in historic houses.
The collection management team, together with the citizens of Rotterdam, will be in charge of making decisions concerning the allocation of the collection in order to optimise the use value and the access of the objects.
A Risk Management approach to the collection preservation issues involves four steps
Identification of – all – the risks to the collection;
Assessment of the magnitude of each risk;
Identification of possible mitigation strategies;
Evaluation of the costs and of the benefits of each possible strategy.
A risk management approach can provide a suitable decision-making method for preventive conservation of the museum’s collection.
8.3.2 Risk Management in the Conservation Center
The Conservation Center must provide the appropriate facilities for the storage of the collection of the museum. Moreover, since risk management covers a broad spectrum of concerns, it must be a priority for the Institute;
The Conservation Center must aim to manage and mitigate the risks to a level which is balanced against the need to ensure that the collection is completely accessible and interpretable;
The facilities must have the proper environmental conditions, and regulations, to maintain internationally accepted climate control, fire prevention, security measures, collection preservation, pests control, collection packing, disaster planning, all of which are designed to maintain the professional standards for the storage of collections;
Risk management includes providing the staff with appropriate training, monitoring the volunteers, monitoring the conservation state of the collection, ensuring that the procedures are in place to record the alterations – whether they are physical, chemical or biological – and to safeguard the collection in the case of emergencies.
In the Conservation Center, a QuiskScan method will be carried out. A QuiskScan method is a form of risk assessment: it is a quick risk scan that helps identifying value and hazards in a collection. The QuiskScan approach combines two tools that have been developed in recent years by the Cultural Heritage Agency of The Netherlands (RCE): Assessing Museum Collections and Collection Risk Management
The QuiskScan proceeds through several steps:
Determination of the context of the collection;
Analysis of the anatomy of the collection;
Assessment of the relative value of the collection units;
Determination of the vulnerability of the collection in regards to the agents of deterioration;
Consideration of the exposure levels.
The QuiskScan method helps find a balance between preparing the objects for being placed throughout the city and caring for the collection that is kept in the storage facilities of the Institute. By finding out which objects are the most vulnerable, proper care can be given both in the city and in the Institute.
8.4 The Staff
All the collection items will be handled, and moved, by the staff and the citizens – volunteers – of Rotterdam, who are trained and are competent to do so;
All the collection items will be assessed to ensure that the correct resources are present, both in the Museum City, and in the Institute, to ensure that the risks are being minimised, to both the objects, to the staff and to the volunteers;
The staff of the Conservation Research Center is responsible to ensure that the collection is being taken care and in the contribution of the examination, research and display of the Museum Rotterdam’s collection;
The Conservation Center will ensure that their knowledge, and expertise, is shared by collaborating with the Rotterdammers to ensure that the appropriate care of the collections can be held.
FINISH
References
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