Field Manual for Museums

Burns, Ned

This manual has been prepared to aid those individuals--monument custodians, park naturalists, historians, and museum curators-who operate National Park Service museums in the field. For these men, who are creative experts in the art oj interpreting their areas to the public, museums are among the important instruments employed in the notable service they perform. Therefore, they frequently require some convenient source if information on the intricacies if the various museum techniques. The contents have been determined by past experiences in answering the requests which come in from the field for advice on handling the many museum problems which arise. It would be impossible to encompass in one large book, or even several volumes, a complete description of all the phases of museum construction and maintenance. The allied techniques if collecting and preserving material objects, not to mention their preparation and exhibition, would require still more space. Such facts of operation as occur infrequently or require the services of the specialist have been mentioned but briefly or entirely omitted. Other phases have been emphasized and in some cases repeated under several headings. This is particularly true of safe practices and precautions to be followed, so that injury to the custodian, as well as to the historic and scientific material under his charge, may be avoided. It is hoped that this manual may also be useful to the State parks and various cooperating governmental agencies in answering some of the constantly recurring questions on technical museum subjects received from them by the National Park Service.