Stored collections of museums: an overview of how visible storage makes them accessible
| Date | 06 May 2024 |
| Pages | 1-8 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/CC-06-2023-0020 |
| Published date | 06 May 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Collection building & management |
| Author | Lara Corona |
Stored collections of museums: an overview of
how visible storage makes them accessible
Lara Corona
Department of Humanities, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to provide an overview of the dimension of stored collections displayed in visible storage and to indicate the main factors
which hinder their accessibility.
Design/methodology/approach –This study is based on quantitative analysis: a survey was conducted through the offices of International Council
of Museums and direct invitations to 2,558 museums located worldwide.
Findings –The study estimated 32% on average the share of stored collections displayed in visible storage. The analysis provides a picture of how
many stored items are made accessible in visible storage across the continents, according to t he collection’s type and size and the museums’legal
status. In addition, several aspects of visible storage are investigated to highlight whether or not it truly enables museums to achieve accessibility of
their stored collections and which factors might hinder the accessibility. Amid them, the foremost factors involve the inadequacy of resources, such
as the lack of staff (71%) and poor budget (68%). Because of it, museums are prone to setting up offsite storage (37%), often 16 km far from the
city centre, thereby questioning the concept of accessibility itself.
Research limitations/implications –One major limitation of this study is that it does not consider people’s standpoints. Therefore, the author
recommends thatfuture studies focus on what peopleopine on visible storage, such as theirappreciation of the display format, the behind-the-scenes,
their need forinterpretation and the degreeof satisfaction with their information needs, aswell as their perception of the sizeof stored collections.
Practical implications –These findings suggest that museums could take action in areas whereby the data demonstrated weaknesses in terms of
accessibility. For instance, museums could set up a shuttle service or arrange public transportation service to allow people to visit offsite storage.
Additionally, financial accessibility might be achieved by not charging some groups (elderly, students, etc.).
Social implications –The topic of stored collections and their accessibility has crucial social implications because not displaying collections triggers
inequality amid social groups of excluded people and a small elite.
Originality/value –This study focuses on visible storage as a possible solution to enhance the accessibility of collectionsand indicates to what extent visible
storage provides this accessibility. On the contrary, previous research did not estimate how much visible storage impacts the accessibilityof stored collections.
Keywords Accessibility, Stored collection, Offsite storage, Onsite storage, Open depot, Visible storage
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Collections were made available to anyone with the birth of
museums (Bazin, 1967;Cataldo and Paraventi, 2007;Griesser
Stermscheg, 2014). Extensive collections could be enjoyed by
people, regardless of being curators, scholars or not. The idea of
democratisation has started to flicker as curators and museums
collected thoughtlessly, regardless of space availability (Gilson,
1914;Ferriot, 1995;Ames, 2015;Crenn, 2021). That perfunctory
approach caused overwhelmed premises. To remediate that
unpleasant display, museums adopted some aesthetic cri teria to
lighten exhibitions (Bazin, 1967;Griesser Stermscheg, 2014;
Murray, 1904;Reinach, 1909;Avery-Quash and Crookham,
2018). As a result, many collections have not been displayed in
museums, thereby mismatching the original idea of their
democratisation. Accordingly, a considerable amount of collections
can be seen only by professionals instead of people for their
enjoyment. Therefore, the topic of stored collections has become a
serious issue as it threatens the museum’s concept itself as an
institution whose collections are supposed t o be enjoyed by anyone.
The idea of democratising collections developed throughout
the years, even though collecting things and human beings have
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9326.htm
Collection and Curation
44/1 (2025) 1–8
Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2514-9326]
[DOI 10.1108/CC-06-2023-0020]
© Lara Corona. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is
published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence.
Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of
this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to
full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this
licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licen ces/by/4.0/legalcode
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Lara
Corona “Stored collections of museums: an overview of how visible
storage makes them accessible”, published in Collection and Curation,
Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print, was published without
acknowledging that the article was reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief rather
than being reviewed by two anonymous referees. This oversight has now
been corrected in the online version. The publisher sincerely apologises for
this error and for any inconvenience caused.
This article was reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief rather than being reviewed by
two anonymous referees.
Received 7 June 2023
1 February 2024
Accepted 1 February 2024
1
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