Millions of items are held in museum collections around the world but many museums have very few visitors to their stored collections. These stored objects are certainly not neglected by their professional custodians, and they are loved with a great intensity by some curators and enthusiasts. However, for all but a tiny proportion of the population they have little or no personal meaning. This book goes beyond strategic discussions of access to stores, information enhancement, or collections rationalization and focuses on the emotional potential of these objects.
The authors explore how “care” for objects has varied over time and consider who cares for objects that are generally considered to be unsuitable for display and why they care. They also consider how inter-generational and inter-disciplinary dialogue can enhance or engender engagement with "unloved" collections and offer strategies and reflection on interpreting stored collections. This book will be essential reading for scholars, students, and professionals in museums, especially those concerned with curation and collections.
- Front Cover
- Front matter
- Half-title
- Series information
- Title page
- Dedication
- Copyright information
- Table of contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Body
- Introduction
- Section One: Enthusiasts and Care for Collections
- Chapter 1. Unlocking the Meanings of Collections: Expertise, Care, and the Science Museum’s Locks and Fastenings Collection
- Collecting: Professional and Personal
- Emotion, Enthusiasm, and Care
- A Day with the Stored Collections
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Chapter 2. “A Hawk from a Handsaw”: Investigating Enthusiasm for Rural Hand Tools
- Introduction
- Caring Practices in “The Third Age”
- Why Hand Tools?
- The Tools and Trades History Society (TATHS)
- Tools for Self Reliance
- Applying Concepts of “Enthusiasm” to Rural Collections
- The Museum of English Rural Life
- Reviving Collections
- Creating Spaces for Sharing “Enthusiasm”
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Chapter 3. What’s in a Name? The Ethics of Care and An “Unloved” Collection
- Introduction
- The IGMT, Industrial Archaeology and the National Slag Collection
- Defining Care in the Museum
- The Enthusiast-Professional
- Caring with Others
- Caring after Hours
- Conclusion: Museums and an Ethics of Care
- Bibliography
- Section Two: “Unloved” Collections
- Chapter 4. “Storehouses of Unimagined Treasures”: Delightful Rummaging and Artists’ Responses to “Unloved” Collections
- Introduction
- “The Lumber Room”
- Mary Mary Quite Contrary
- Finding the Value
- What Can Be Seen
- Concluding Remarks
- Bibliography
- Chapter 5. No Data, No Use? Changing Use and Valuation of Natural History Collections
- Introduction
- A Brief History of Natural History
- Decline
- Vast Collections
- Large Specimens, Smaller Collections
- Second-Class Collections
- Cultural Capital
- Cultural Value
- Subverting Value
- Behind the Velvet Rope
- Model Organisms and Museum Mascots
- Bibliography
- Chapter 6. Getting to Grips with Medical Handling Collections: Medical Memories, Specialist Knowledge, and Community Engagement Around "Unloved" Objects
- The Development of Medical Collections in the UK
- The Development of The Infirmary
- The Modern Remaking of The Infirmary, Its Handling Collection, and Volunteers
- People Living with Dementia Creating Glassware
- “Doors Open Day”: Other Uses of the Handling Collection
- The Nature of Learning via Handling Objects
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Section Three: Emotional Research
- Chapter 7. Emotions and Lost Objects
- Why Should We Care about Emotions and Objects?
- Affect
- History and Emotions
- An “Emotional History” in Practice
- Bibliography
- Chapter 8. Care-Full Academic Labour Encountering Care in Collections-Based Research
- Foreword by Rhianedd Smith
- Care-Full Academic Labour: Encountering Care in Collections-Based Research
Francesca Church
- Introduction: Care and the Archival Researcher
- An Archive of Enthusiasm: The CPRE Archive
- Experiencing Emotion in the Archive
- Archive Fever: Care for the Researcher
- Communication as Care
- Conclusion: Who Cares?
- Archival Materials
- Bibliography
- Volume Conclusion: How to Put a Little Love in Your Stored Collection
- 1. What Are Unloved Collections and Who Cares for Them?
- 2. How Does Emotion Help Us to Understand “Unloved Collections”?
- 3. How Do Different Kinds of Carers Express and Share Their Love for Collections?
- 4. Are There Ways in Which Different Kinds of Carers Can Work Together?
- What Next for “Unloved” Collections?
- Back matter
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