museum archives
Preserved collection documents
Museum archives are the collections of documents, records, photographs, and other materials that document a museum's history, operations, and acquisitions.
They may include correspondence, exhibition records, donor files, and provenance documentation for objects in the collection.
Archives differ from the museum's displayed holdings—they preserve institutional memory rather than artifacts for public viewing: The curator consulted the museum archives to trace the painting's ownership history.
- provenanceRecord of ownership
- primary sourcesFirsthand historical evidence
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- climate controlRegulating indoor temperature
- catalogingSystematic organization into records
digitization · ephemera · oral histories · loan agreements · registrar · historiography · metadata · documentary evidence · microfilm · reading room · white gloves · boxes · photographs · educational programming · historical narratives · shelves · back room · repository
museum archivespublic galleries
Freely accessible art venues
exhibition halls · permanent exhibitions · front of house · museum shop · lobby
museum archivesexhibition space
Venue for displaying art
interactive exhibits · educational displays · multimedia presentations · live demonstrations