Tangible Collections Records Management Documentation And Retrieval Training

Objectives:
• Understand the scope and importance of tangible collections records management.
• Identify key legislation and standards in South Africa.
• Define core terminology and concepts.
• Recognise the lifecycle of a tangible collection record.

Topics:
• Overview of tangible collections: types and contexts.
• Role of records management in heritage, museums, and archives.
• South African legislative framework: National Heritage Resources Act, Promotion of Access to Information Act.
• Key concepts: records, metadata, provenance, custody.
• The records lifecycle: creation, use, maintenance, disposal.

Objectives:
• Apply documentation standards for tangible collections.
• Understand metadata schemas and their application.
• Differentiate between descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata.
• Create consistent documentation using templates.

Topics:
• International standards: Dublin Core, CIDOC-CRM, SPECTRUM.
• South African best practices for collection documentation.
• Metadata elements for tangible objects.
• Creating and using documentation templates.
• Practical exercise: documenting a sample object.

Objectives:
• Perform cataloguing of tangible collection items.
• Develop and maintain an inventory.
• Use classification systems for organisation.
• Apply numbering and labelling techniques.

Topics:
• Cataloguing principles: uniqueness, consistency, clarity.
• Inventory management systems and registers.
• Classification systems: hierarchical, faceted, numeric.
• Numbering conventions: accession numbers, barcodes, RFID.
• Practical: cataloguing multiple objects.

Objectives:
• Conduct condition assessments and create reports.
• Document preservation needs and actions.
• Understand environmental monitoring records.
• Integrate condition data into collection management.

Topics:
• Condition reporting standards and forms.
• Assessing physical state: damage, deterioration, stability.
• Preservation documentation: treatments, conservation records.
• Environmental monitoring: temperature, humidity, light.
• Linking condition data to cataloguing records.

Objectives:
• Document acquisition processes legally and ethically.
• Manage accessioning procedures.
• Understand provenance and title documentation.
• Handle deeds of gift, loans, and purchase records.

Topics:
• Acquisition policies and procedures.
• Provenance research and documentation.
• Accessioning steps: numbering, recording, storage.
• Legal documents: deeds of gift, loan agreements, invoices.
• Ethical considerations: cultural sensitivity, repatriation.

Objectives:
• Document deaccessioning and disposal decisions.
• Understand legal and ethical requirements.
• Manage records of transfer, sale, or destruction.
• Ensure transparency and accountability.

Topics:
• Deaccessioning policies and criteria.
• Documentation of disposal decisions and approvals.
• Transfer records: to other institutions, sale, or destruction.
• Ethical and legal implications.
• Case studies of deaccessioning processes.

Objectives:
• Design efficient retrieval systems for tangible collections.
• Develop search strategies using metadata.
• Understand indexing and thesauri.
• Use controlled vocabularies for consistency.

Topics:
• Retrieval system types: manual, digital, hybrid.
• Indexing principles and thesauri.
• Controlled vocabularies: Art & Architecture Thesaurus, local lists.
• Search strategies: keyword, Boolean, faceted.
• Practical: searching a sample database.

Objectives:
• Use collection management software effectively.
• Understand database structure and data entry standards.
• Perform data migration and backup procedures.
• Ensure data integrity and security.

Topics:
• Overview of collection management systems (e.g., PastPerfect, Mimsy).
• Database design: tables, fields, relationships.
• Data entry standards and validation.
• Data migration: planning, mapping, testing.
• Backup and security protocols.

Objectives:
• Document digitisation projects for tangible collections.
• Understand digital file management and metadata.
• Create and maintain digital surrogates.
• Address digital preservation challenges.

Topics:
• Digitisation planning and workflows.
• File formats, naming conventions, and storage.
• Digital metadata: technical, preservation, rights.
• Digital preservation strategies: migration, emulation.
• Practical: documenting a digitisation project.

Objectives:
• Document access policies and usage records.
• Manage rights and reproductions documentation.
• Handle requests for access and loans.
• Ensure compliance with data protection laws.

Topics:
• Access policies: open, restricted, confidential.
• Rights management: copyright, cultural rights, licenses.
• Reproduction requests and documentation.
• Loan documentation: incoming, outgoing, conditions.
• POPIA compliance in collections records.

Objectives:
• Develop retention schedules for collection records.
• Manage disposal of records according to policy.
• Understand archival transfer procedures.
• Ensure long-term preservation of records.

Topics:
• Retention schedules: legal, administrative, historical value.
• Disposal methods: destruction, deletion, transfer.
• Archival standards for records transfer.
• Digital preservation repositories.
• Practical: creating a retention schedule.

Objectives:
• Conduct audits of collection records.
• Implement quality assurance measures.
• Identify and correct record discrepancies.
• Report audit findings and recommendations.

Topics:
• Audit types: completeness, accuracy, consistency.
• Sampling methods for record checking.
• Quality assurance frameworks.
• Corrective actions and updates.
• Reporting and documentation of audits.

Objectives:
• Integrate all documentation processes into a cohesive system.
• Apply best practices in daily operations.
• Develop a personal action plan for improvement.
• Demonstrate competence through a practical assessment.

Topics:
• System integration: linking documentation, retrieval, preservation.
• Best practice case studies from South African institutions.
• Emerging trends: AI, linked data, crowdsourcing.
• Personal action plan development.
• Final practical assessment: document and retrieve a collection item.