Standards and best practices in non-collecting art museums

Non-collecting museums are a relatively recent development within the\ud museum framework and have become more prominent as the emphasis\ud has shifted away from traditional collections and towards visitors and\ud education. Despite their designation as non-collecting, these museums\ud often care for or hold objects, at least on a temporary basis. In this\ud thesis, the current state of non-collecting art museums with respect to\ud collections care and registration is investigated. A review of relevant\ud literature was conducted, and case studies of three non-collecting art\ud museums in the United States were completed in order to examine what\ud issues have arisen in their development. The study found that non-collecting\ud art museums are adept at adapting traditional registration and\ud collections management best practices and standards to their unique\ud situations, but that there is still much room for improvement and a need\ud to codify specific practices. The thesis concludes with recommendations\ud for how non-collecting art museums can move forward in caring for\ud objects and continuing to be good stewards