Curators are responsible for managing museum collections. They select items for display, direct acquisitions and loans, conduct research, and oversee conservation efforts. Effective curation requires documenting each item, providing access for researchers while protecting collections, implementing preventative conservation measures, controlling pests, planning for emergencies, and establishing policies for deaccessioning items. Curators ensure collections are well-managed, preserved, and made available to educate the public.

1. Curation
M.Raj,
Associate Professor,
Darrang College

2. According to the New World Encyclopedia, a curator is a person
“who manages, administers, or organizes a collection for exhibition—at a
museum, library, archive, zoo, and others”
A museum curator (from Latin: cura meaning “care”) is the
custodian of the collections of a museum and is responsible for
their management.
Museums Explained (2003) define curation as
“a process of identification and organization of artworks in order to
further knowledge.”
All types of museums require at least one curator.
Large museums may employ several curators that each
specialize in a certain field.
Definitions

3. Jobsofacurator
Curators decide how the pieces should be displayed and the order in
which they appear
They select works for permanent display as well as works for
special temporary exhibitions.
It is the museum curators who are ultimately accountable for the safety
of their display pieces
To direct the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections.
To authenticate, evaluate, and categorize the specimens in a collection.
To negotiate and authorize the purchase, sale, exchange, or loan of
collections.
To oversee and help conduct the institution's research projects and
related educational programs.
To augment fund raising and promotion, which may include
the writing and reviewing of
grant proposals, journal articles, and publicity materials,
as well as attendance at
Meetings, conventions, and civic events.

4. Managementof
Museum
Conservation and collection management of natural history
collections is an ever evolving science.
Most collections that exist in museums around the world have
taken hundreds of years to accumulate, involving hundreds and
thousands of man-hours of field work
But they no longer bear any resemblance to what they were at the
time of sampling.
This is basically because the parameters for the management
and care of natural history collections have expanded
dramatically in the recent years

5. Documentation Each specimen is assigned a unique number or identifier, and marked or
labeled with the number
Documentation involves
• Record of the unique number of the specimen
Location of the specimen
• Its condition, history & scientific value
Transactions affecting the specimen
Transaction may involve accessioning, cataloging, loaning,
sampling, analysis, treatment, etc

6. Access This basically includes
providing and promoting access
to the use of specimens and their associated data for the visitors to the
museum and visitor supervision and care.
Visitors include
researchers and students from museums or universities
school and other groups
film crews
artists or photographers
hobbyistsgeneral public
All visitors are required to notify the museum in advance of an intended
visit.
Students from museums or universities require a letter of introduction
from their supervisor
Groups are limited to 10 -15 individuals as it is difficult to monitor
their activities if the group is larger

7. Loans
Specimens may be given on loan for research, education,
exhibition
Loans constitute the primary method of access for the majority
of the specimens
Specimens on loan are at greater risk of loss or damaged
because they are no longer under the control for management
Curatorial management endeavors to reduce the level of risks
by developing policies and procedures for approving loans and for
specifying acceptable methods and materials during use to
minimize deterioration.

8. Preventive
Conservation
Preventive conservation or preventive care involves actions taken to
minimize or eliminate
chemical, physical or biological deterioration in collections
Agents of deterioration
direct physical forces (such as shock, vibration)
fire water
radiation (including both ultraviolet radiation and visible
light)
incorrect temperatureincorrect relative humidity
The role of preventive care is to avoid, block, or minimize the agents of
deterioration.
It helps prolong the item’s existence
Treatment may consist of stabilization and/or restoration.

9. Pest
Control
A constant war is waged against pests in museums.
Where there is a collection of dead animal material, there will always be
insects to consume and destroy it.
It is achieved by Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM uses a variety
of techniques to prevent and solve pest problems using pesticides only
as a last resort.
This is done by following a strict regime of
avoiding the introduction of pests to the collections,
preventing them,
identifying them,
assessing the problems,
solving the problems and
reviewing procedures.
It is an ongoing process learning and development.

10. Emergency
Preparedness
Ultimately no collection is immune from emergencies which may strike
in the form of fires, floods, volcanic eruptions etc.
Once neglected or handled inappropriately, an emergency can go out
of control and become a disaster and a curatorial nightmare.
The goals of emergency preparedness for natural history collections
include
to identify, anticipate, and avoid preventable emergencies
to mitigate damage when an emergency occurs so that disaster is
avoided or minimized
to recover from disasters as quickly and professionally as possible so
that no human life is lost and minimal collection damage and loss
occurs
All museums now-a-days have their own
Museum Collection Emergency Operation Plan (MCEOP)

11. Deaccession
s
Sometimes for a variety of reasons a museum may want to remove a
specimen permanently from its collection as a part of standard
management practice. This is called deaccession.
When an institution needs to deaccess specimens from the
collections, there must be mechanisms for decision making in place
that address legal issues, ethical concerns and professional
standards.
Deaccession can be a sensitive activity and sound deaccession
policies helps anticipate and address concerns.