CALL FOR PAPERS

Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals welcomes manuscript submissions. Published by AltaMira Press, a leading publisher of books and journals on museological topics, Collections is a multi-disciplinary journal for all aspects of handling, preserving, researching, interpreting, and organizing collections. Practitioners and academics turn to the journal for the most up-to-date research in collections management in museums and archives. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals offers professional guidance and theoretical grounding drawn from fields such as anthropology, art history, cultural studies, ethnobotany, history, conservation, law, life science, museum studies, and library science.

Curators, archivists, collections managers, preparators, registrars, educators, graduate students, and others are encouraged to submit their work. We accept articles of 15-25 manuscript pages, 3-6 page opinion pieces, book reviews, technical columns, and observations.

Potential Content for Collections:
Philosophy of collecting

• Why we collect?
• What we collect?
• Why we collect what we collect?
• How we collect
• Philosophical differences among organizations
  • Archives
  • Botanical Gardens & Arboreta
  • Halls of Fame
  • House Museums
  • Non-collecting Museums
  • Specialty Museums
  • Traditional Collecting Museums
  • Zoos
• Collecting and museum mission
• Philosophy of the care of collections
• Ethics of collecting and collections care

• Best practices
• Methods in collection care
• Preventive conservation
• Conservation
• Historic Preservation
• New Techniques
• New Technology
• Data management/Informatics
• Access to collections
• Uses of collections (including research and preparation for exhibition)
• Accessioning
• Deaccessioning
• Historic practices
• Taxidermy for museums
• Cost control
• Loans
• Project management
• Policy development and maintenance
• IPM
• Emergency preparedness
• Object identification
• Legal issues

• Acceptable methods
• Legal issues
• Conflict of interest
• Unique historical methods

• Objects
• Records
• Uses of images
• Copyright
• Watermarking

• Over- and under-sized objects
• Odd-shaped objects
• Unusually fragile objects
• Heavy objects
• Dangerous objects (munitions, drugs, poisons)

• Historically unique collections
• Nationally or regionally significant collections
• Biographical discussion of important collectors
• Historic Architecture

• Surveys of national significance
• Surveys of disciplinary significance

• Books
• Websites
• Online databases
• Digitizing projects