National Park Service Museum Handbook

The National Park Service Museum Handbook provides best-practice guidance on how to manage, document, and access and use museum collections. A wide range of collections management topics, such as planning, preservation, and protection, documentation and accountability, and access and use are covered in three separate parts: Museum Collections, Museum Records and Museum Collections Use. The Handbook includes National Park Service museum management standards, policies and procedures for art, archeology, ethnology, history, biology, geology, paleontology, and archival collections managed at over 385 parks and centers nationwide.

There are three parts to the NPS Museum Handbook:

Part I: Museum Collections
Part II: Museum Records
Part III: Museum Collections Use

National Park Service Museum Handbook Part I: Museum Collections

This Handbook provides policies, procedures, and guidance for planning, preservation and protection of materials and disciplines in National Park Service museum collections. It covers collections environment, integrated pest management, handling, packing, and shipping, storage, fire protection, emergency planning and preparation, health and safety, security, and other topics. The Handbook also covers strategic planning for collections and professional ethics. Each chapter provides customizable plans and forms.

**National Park Service Museum Handbook, Part II: Museum Records**

This Handbook outlines policies and procedures for documenting National Park Service museum collections. It covers accessioning, cataloging, inventory and accountability, loans, deaccessioning, photography, and reporting annual collection management data. Each chapter provides customizable forms.