I set out on this journey to examine all my collections to see if there were particularly useful features in one collection that might be reused in others; or if it might be advantageous to even combine collections in some way. In the last 8 posts I\u2019ve explored commonalities in the areas of Collection Consciousness, Storage, Digitisation, Indexes, Searching, Displays, Documentation, and Relationships; and the overwhelming conclusion has to be that there are indeed commonalities \u2013 though primarily in the digital domain. It seems that people\u2019s familiarity with computers, with using the functionality of search engines, and with storing documents and photos, has provided them with the knowledge and tools to use digital technology extensively to deal with their collections in general.<\/p>\n
This has certainly been true in my case; furthermore, I have realised that the commonalities I have identified are not just of sufficient interest to merely write them down and describe them. No, they are of such significance that I am going to have to try to apply them in practice to my own collections. Therefore, they are listed below with a commentary on their potential use in my portfolio of collections. I shall document the results in future posts.<\/p>\n
Identifying collections: <\/strong>I find that I\u2019ve come up with one set of collections in my definition of \u2018The Box\u2019 and another set of collections in the analysis described in my post of 15th <\/sup>\u00a0September<\/a>. There are discrepancies between the two; for example, in \u2018The Box\u2019 I have a collection called \u2018Art\u2019 divided out into Paintings, Posters, Collages, Prints, and Sculptures. Whereas in the post of 15Sep I have \u2018Paintings, Drawings and Collages\u2019 and \u2018Sculptures\u2019. Furthermore, I also have a set of 87 digital pictures which I use as a screensaver but I\u2019m not sure how that maps on to the other two classifications. I need to examine all my collections and categorisations and come up with a rationalised set, with each collection clearly defined.<\/p>\n Storage:<\/strong> I will assess each collection in the rationalised list to see if the collection\u2019s objects might be stored in a better way to a) have its object on permanent display, b) ensure it is ordered appropriately, and c) to enable easy access and return of the objects.<\/p>\n Creating Indexes:<\/strong> I already have indexes for most collections \u2013 but I might consider creating an index for some of the others. The \u2018Art\u2019 collection mentioned above would definitely be a candidate. When I have established the rationalised set of collections described in \u2018Identifying collections\u2019 above, I will assess those without an index to see if an index would be appropriate.<\/p>\n Combined Indexes:<\/strong> I already have an index serving three collections, and know that there is at least one other that might be included in it. I may also consider combining my three separate indexes of Publications, Reports, and Trophies & Certificates into a single index. For completeness I will also assess the newly rationalised set of collections after it has been established to see if any indexes can be combined.<\/p>\n Searching:<\/strong> I can conduct searches on file names in my computer, so, in principle, I could search the file names of digital objects across my collections if I placed all the folders containing the digital objects for each collection in a single higher-level folder. A search on the higher-level folder would then be conducted on all the sub-folders. I might consider doing this for a subset of my collections; I don\u2019t think it would be effective to include larger collections such as PAWDOC or Photos.<\/p>\n Displays<\/strong>: I currently make use of 4 kinds of display; physical displays<\/u> such as the collections of Books on bookshelves, and Computer Artefacts in a display case; revolving displays<\/u> such as the screensaver display in my laptop which is currently showing digital objects from my Pictures, Mementos and Photos collections; tablet displays<\/u> such as \u2018The Box\u2019 on my iPad; and Publication Displays<\/u> such as the book \u2018Meteor\u2019 that I produced<\/a> and which contains all the pages from two stamp albums. When I have established the rationalised set of collections I will investigate to see which type of display might be appropriate for each collection or group of collections.<\/p>\n Documentation:<\/strong> I will assess the rationalised set of collections to ensure that, where appropriate, a comprehensive list is available to provide to the police\/insurance companies in the case of a burglary. I will also revise my will and the addendum to it, to bring them in line with the rationalised collection set; and to ensure that only the addendum text and not the will itself, will require update should the mix of collections or their contents change.<\/p>\n Relationships:<\/strong> I will assess the indexes and lIsts in all my collections to see if it is appropriate to include cross-reference fields, and will add one where appropriate. This may also require\u00a0 the creation of a standard way of referring to those collections which do not have a unique style of Reference Number.<\/p>\n This is clearly going to be a big job \u2013 I may be some time\u2026..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I set out on this journey to examine all my collections to see if there were particularly useful features in one collection that might be reused in others; or if it might be advantageous to even combine collections in some … Continue reading