The State of the State of California Curation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "How to Conduct Museum Research and Recent Research Findings in Museum Collections: Posters in Honor of Terry Childs" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Dr. Wendy Teeter, Stevy Hernandez, and Xochitl Aguinaga from the Fowler Museum at UCLA were part of an implementation committee initiating the California Curatorial Survey which was distributed to professionals from a variety of institutions. The 2018 Society of California Archaeology Curation Committee led the creation and dissemination of this survey to understand who curates archaeological collections and what the needs and standards are of these locations. To ensure survey results adequately represented the reality of curation, those who were asked to participate were affiliated with numerous facility types including state/federal, tribal, CRM, museum, and repository. The responses collected corroborated the existence of a widespread curation crisis. In March of 2018, a round table discussion with the SCA committee members was held. Those in attendance reviewed the survey responses, offered insights, and provided suggestions based on their personal experiences as they related to the presented data. Based upon this discussion and the survey itself, the implementation committee concluded that a follow-up survey was necessary. This new survey tailored questions to facility type, providing a better overview of curation needs. Additionally, to encompass the full scope of California curation, a broader range of regional facilities were invited to participate.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• How to Conduct Museum Research and Recent Research Findings in Museum Collections: Posters in Honor of Terry Childs   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25052