Course Description
This course introduces students to the activities, ethics, and values involved in creating,
accessing, and dismantling collections in museums, galleries and similar institutions. Topics
include processes of acquisition, accessioning, cataloguing and deaccessioning; collections
policies; ethics; cultural property and legislation; digitization of collections and records;
preventive conservation; copyright and ownership; and physical and intellectual access to
collections. The course approaches collections management as: an integrated and integral
aspect of museum operations; an active site of museological research; and a series of practices
and decisions performed by museum staff.