History – Meticulous processes

The Warkworth Museum recently received a donation of material from the Broomfield family, descendants of A.G.L. Broomfield who was for many years a solicitor in Warkworth. For some time, his offices were in the two-storey house in Neville Street, Broomfield House. He was Chairman of the Town Board in the 1950s and also a keen amateur photographer, and it is his photographs that have been offered to the museum, some donated in digital form and some still to come as glass plates.

I thought it might be interesting to look at the process involved when items are offered, remembering that the museum’s manager is the only permanent paid staff member, so everything else is done by volunteers.

There are three categories under which items can be offered to the museum:

• Permanent collection – these are historic items, relevant to the area to be preserved.
• Secondary collection – these items can be handled/used by the public, for instance during school visits.
• Items loaned short-term for exhibition purposes only.

Items are reviewed for their relevance to the district, their rarity and condition, and to identify which category they fall under. Consideration must be given of such things as Treaty obligations, copyright or laws relating to endangered or native species. Then a full record or accession form is completed with a list of all items to be donated, relevant history noted and condition of the items recorded. The donor then signs this form and is given a copy as a receipt.

A record is then made on the museum’s database. This may well include a photo of the item, as well as its provenance and its new storage location. This may be textiles, artefacts, archives or the shed. If necessary, some care may be required to aid in the preservation of the item. Conservators from other museums may offer assistance with the best ways to treat or store unusual items.

If we look at Mr Broomfield’s collection, the museum already has the window from his solicitor’s office in its collection, so his relevance to the district is known. The digital photos will be individually recorded so that they can be accessed, and the glass plates will be housed in archives. Each plate will be individually recorded and placed in an acid free envelope and grouped in as many acid free boxes as needed and their location recorded. Most items in archives require similar care. Many of them are now digitised so they are more accessible, but also to avoid handling of old and fragile items. Each area of the museum has a heat pump/dehumidifier to ensure that temperature and humidity remain constant to aid in the preservation of items.

If people wish to access an item for research or copying, you can see from the time and costs involved in accessing and storing items that it is necessary for the museum to charge a small fee and expect some acknowledgement of the museum’s role in preserving it.

Watch out for museum fundraising raffles coming up and also our stall at the Kowhai Festival Market Day on October 19.