Exhibits are an important educational function of many organizations and are one of the primary ways they reach out to the public. Exhibits allow collection organizations to communicate through both their permanent collections and items on incoming loan. In-house exhibits are often less logistically complex than traveling exhibits, in that they require fewer packing, shipping, or insurance considerations. PastPerfect has features for tracking both in-house and traveling exhibits.
Detailed information can be recorded about your exhibits, including exhibit name, location, duration, staff required, climate control, and visitor traffic. PastPerfect also has fields for insurance and shipping information. Each item placed on exhibit is flagged so that you can view the detailed Exhibits screen directly from the catalog. A history of exhibits is maintained as well as an exhibit history for each item. PastPerfect also includes an option to print exhibit labels for each item. For more information, see Additional Features | Exhibits.
Loans may come into your institution from other museums or from private individuals. The most common type of loan is for exhibit purposes. These short-term loans are common in today's museum community.
Donors may sometimes lend an item to the museum with the promise that it will someday be given to the museum. Such items should retain loan status until the ownership has officially transferred, by deed of gift, to the museum. Long-term or permanent loans from individuals or institutions were standard operating procedure in the early and mid 20th century. Such loans are less common today, however, you may still be administering long-term loans that came into your museum before your arrival.
Loans of any kind should be accepted with great care. You must maintain meticulous records of all such transactions. The lending institution is in charge of the loan procedures and forms. When you are the borrower, the lending institution or individual may set the conditions of the loan. You are under obligation to use the loaned materials for the purpose expressed in the loan agreement and return the loaned materials in the same condition as they came to you. Typically your institution assumes all liability for the borrowed items, including insurance, care, handling, and transportation. Because your institution is responsible for the care of borrowed materials for as long as they are in your possession, it is best to borrow items only for a particular purpose and for a specified period of time.
It is a good policy to review your active loans periodically. Loan expiration dates should be monitored so that loans are returned on time. If a loan is to be extended, the contract must be updated and the insurance coverage extended.
In PastPerfect, you can record the lender's contact information, instructions, restrictions, credit line, shipping and insurance information, as well as a description and purpose for the loan. PastPerfect will generate a loan agreement. For more information, see Additional Features | Incoming Loans.
Most museums, no matter how good their collections, periodically need materials from other institutions to complete an exhibit. The handling of loans both to and from the museum is an integral part of good registration. As the lending institution, you will be in the driver's seat. It is the prerogative of the lender to set the conditions of the loan and control how the borrower uses the items.
When you are the lending institution, your forms and conditions apply. The loan form should state exactly what is being borrowed and give a detailed description of the physical condition of the item. Because you have been careful to fully catalog and document each item in your collection, your catalog records should be enough to identify the item in court, should a dispute arise. It is important to state the exact purpose of the loan and to be specific about any restrictions that may apply to the items.
You should do a detailed condition report for each item in the loan. You must carefully assess each item's ability to travel and withstand the conditions under which the materials will be stored or exhibited during the period of the loan.
It is usually the responsibility of the borrower to provide crating and shipping for the loan. However, as the curator or collections manager responsible for the materials, it is important to review the proposed packing and transportation to make sure they meet your standards.
Make it a policy to regularly review your active outgoing loans. Loan expiration dates should be monitored so that loans are returned on time. A loan agreement may be extended. However, to extend a loan agreement, the contract must be updated and the insurance coverage extended by the borrowing institution.
When a loan is returned, you should unpack it as soon as possible and compare items against their outgoing condition reports for any significant changes. If there is any damage to the items, notify the borrower immediately. Take pictures of the damage to compare with "before" pictures in your records. It will be up to you, the lending institution, to file an insurance claim. If you feel that the damage occurred during shipping, save all the crating and packing material and take photographs of it. If a damage claim is necessary, you will need to provide documentation of the damage.
The Outgoing Loans catalog tracks the borrowing institution, out and due dates, shipping and insurance information, purpose, and loan terms. You can then print a loan agreement and conditions to present to the borrower. Each item that is on loan is flagged so you can easily access the Outgoing Loans screen directly from the catalog record. A loan history is maintained for all items that have been part of each outgoing loan. For more information see, Additional Features | Outgoing Loans.
There may be times when your institution no longer wants or is able to keep items in the collection. The proper way to remove items is to deaccession them. PastPerfect has a Deaccession catalog where records are kept for the items that have been deaccessioned from the collection. Deaccession records store all the information about the item, including images. They also record the dates, reason, and method of the deaccession, as well as the staff authorizing the deaccession. For more information, see Additional Features | Deaccessions.
Each institution will have its own policy on deaccessioning. For more information about deaccessioning, we recommend the "Deaccessioning" chapter in The New Museum Registration Methods, 5th edition, edited by Rebecca A. Buck and Jean Allman Gilmore.
PastPerfect's Catalog Lists is a tool that enables you to create, view, print, export, and manage lists of items. Lists may be generated using a filter in the Catalog Lists section or by placing items on lists right from individual catalog records. You can also build lists from search results on Query screens, Full Catalog Search, and Search by Lexicon. Once a list is created, you can put all items on exhibit or outgoing loan, allow or deny public access (with the Public Access add-on), or mark items as inventoried. You can also export mapping data, export to CSV, and print lists and labels. For more information, see Research and Reporting | Catalog Lists & Inventory.
The Inventory Lists give you a tool to help you accomplish successful collections tracking projects. By comparing your records with your items or vice versa, you can ensure that your items are accounted for and that your records are accurate. You can create inventory lists, print barcode labels, and track collections electronically. Inventory lists can be generated randomly or automatically based on catalog, status, or last inventoried date.
