MARS: A Unique Place for Storing Archaeological Collections

Summary

MARS, an acronym for the Mathewson Automated Retrieval System, is a mechanical system that houses older, seldom-used books, journals, and other materials, in the University of Nevada, Reno’s (UNR) Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center. Robotic arms can be programmed to store and retrieve one of over 700,000 items located in storage bins of various sizes and shapes. In addition to housing rarely-used print materials, MARS is home to over 1800 boxes of archaeological materials. In 2010, in response to repeated incidents of vandalism at an off-site storage facility for archaeological collections belonging to the UNR Anthropology Research Museum, these collections were moved to MARS for more secure storage. This paper discusses the challenges and benefits of using MARS to store archaeological collections and offers advice to museum and archaeological professionals who are considering using an Automated Retrieval System to store collections.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Researching Historical Archaeological Collections: An Assessment of Current Techniques

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-75,01