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Museum Collecting in the Age of ‘Big Data’: Opportunities for Collaboration

Welsh, Peter
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Abstract
Museums, particularly museums of cultural history, face a constant challenge of deciding which objects to add to the collection, knowing that acquiring any object brings obligations to provide long term stable environments, appropriate documentation, and ongoing access. Established practice is for each museum to evaluate potential acquisitions in accordance with their own written collections policy. However, institutions acting independently has led to significant duplication of objects, straining the resources of each museum. Some museums are exploring collaborative approaches to this “big data” problem by sharing information on collections, reallocating objects among museums, and making collections available to one another for exhibitions.
Description
Presented at “Big Data & Uncertainty in the Humanities”, University of Kansas, September 22, 2012. Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities: http://idrh.ku.edu Peter Welsh is a Professor and Director of Museum Studies at the University of Kansas.
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2012-09-22
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Digital Humanities, Museum Studies
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