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Retrospective documentation
This document was written, and licensed for publication by the Collections Trust.
Retrospective documentation is a Primary Procedure. This means that in order to meet the documentation requirements for the Museum Accreditation Scheme an organisation must reach the SPECTRUM Minimum Standard for this procedure.
SPECTRUM defines Retrospective documentation as:
The improvement of the standard of information about objects and collections to meet SPECTRUM Minimum Standards by the documentation of new information for existing objects and collections.
The organisation must have a policy on retrospective documentation.
The procedure for retrospective documentation must:
- Define the purposes of the organisation's documentation system;
- Define the organisation's understanding of the backlogs it has;
- Work towards reducing its backlog;
- Review progress on reducing the backlog on a regular basis;
- Work towards an overall improvement in the quality of information held about objects and collections;
- Review progress on the overall improvement in the quality of information on a regular basis.
Getting Started
The best place to start is with the Collections Trust's publication Documentation: a practical guide (see ' Shop' for further information).
Guidelines and Factsheets
- Retrospective Documentation and Making an Inventory (Collections Trust)
SPECTRUM Standard Procedure
For the full procedure on Retrospective documentation, download SPECTRUM from: www.collectionstrust.org.uk/spectrum.
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