Collections Management

About this course

Participants examine the main stages of museum collections management, including acquisition, registration, cataloguing, object care, storage and access. Teaching combines classroom learning with visits to museum and gallery collections, alongside opportunities to consider current professional challenges and hear from registrars and collections managers. Assessment involves documenting a bequest to accredited museum standards and writing a reflective critique of the process. The course also places participants alongside Birkbeck students studying related undergraduate or postgraduate subjects.

What you'll learn

• Explain core principles of museum collections management
• Apply registration and cataloguing practices to the documentation of a bequest
• Identify basic approaches to object care and storage
• Evaluate issues affecting access to museum collections
• Reflect critically on the work and challenges of collections professionals

Is this course right for you?

The course is intended as an introduction for people considering work in museum collections management or registration. It may also suit those already working in the sector who want to specialise or undertake relevant CPD. The all-level label indicates broad entry positioning, while the postgraduate-level study includes assessed academic work.

• Designed for prospective entrants as well as current museum-sector workers
• Includes visits to collections and contact with collections professionals
• Requires completion of an individual assessed assignment