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A collection manager is responsible for the hands-on care of museum, library, and archive collections. Collection managers are typically accountable for moving objects for storage, exhibition, and relocation purposes, as well as overseeing housing requirements. In the absence of one or more of the other three basic collection care roles (registrar, curator, and conservator-restorer), a collection manager may be tasked with performing the additional duties of these missing elements. Collection managers typically hold graduate degrees in museum studies or a related advanced degree.

Responsibilities


Collection managers perform a wide range of duties designed to ensure that a museum collection is properly maintained and cared for, documented, and organized. Included in these responsibilities is the development of collection care policies and implementing standards for the acquisition and disposal of collection objects. This process involves assisting in the acquisition of new objects by identifying gaps in a museum's collection, and staying abreast of current trends within their given field, as well as determining when and how the institution might dispose of objects. The collection manager must also address budgetary concerns for the collection, and when applicable, solicit grant funding and gifts to support the collection's care. All new acquisitions must then be accessioned and cataloged into an institution's collection. The collection manager is responsible for gathering all accompanying documentation, assigning an identifier number, creating a curatorial worksheet to be passed on to the curation department, photographing the object, and recording all compiled information into the institution's computer software system.

Collection managers are further responsible for the ongoing care and storage of all objects acquired by an institution. These responsibilities include overseeing the movement of objects within the institution for purposes such as display, treatment, and photography, as well as assisting in the packing, shipping and labeling of objects for transfer between museums. Collection managers must also monitor environmental conditions within the institution's storage and exhibition facilities to ensure that proper collections care standards are followed to prevent damage or deterioration of collection objects. The collection manager must plan for short- and long-term climate controlled storage, as well as perform damage assessments to determine the need for stabilization and preventive conservation of the objects.

Serving as a liaison between various departments within the institution, as well as addressing the needs of outside researchers, are also key responsibilities of collection managers. To do so, collection managers must maintain accurate and up-to-date location information for every object within the collection, requiring them to collaborate with departmental heads to ensure all institutional needs are met. In addition, the collection manager must become familiar with the interests, professional needs, and digital content requirements of researchers interested in the institution's collection. Performing these tasks requires collection managers to take responsibility for the dissemination of collection information within the museum and among interested researchers, in addition to administrative, personnel, and financial management of all collection objects.

Education and training
Individuals seeking employment as a collection manager must typically pursue a bachelor's degree in a relevant field such anthropology, art history, library sciences, or in a discipline focused on a specific museum department or area of research. Many institutions also require collection managers to possess a graduate degree in a field related to the museum's collection, or in museum studies. These individuals must possess strong communication skills and, with recent advancements in technology, many institutions now also require proficiency in computer skills. Collection managers are also expected to have hands-on experience within a related field in collection management duties such as object handling, storage methods, and cataloging objects.