Collections management is a relatively new term in museums and cultural heritage. It has grown from the need to develop professional practice in looking after culturally significant objects and their associated information. It covers a range of activities, including documentation, care, storage, movement and loan and applies to organizations ranging from national galleries to small local museums.

Caring for cultural collections today requires knowledge of legal and ethical considerations. Recent developments in the areas of sustainability, security and economics are also part of day‑to‑day collections administration. These areas, as well as the practical aspects of collections care, are covered in this book with samples of actual documents, step‑by‑step procedures and suggestions on where to go for further reading and advice.

It is hoped that this book, intended primarily for museum staff and museum studies students, will be of use to anyone with responsibility for caring for items of cultural significance. The information is based on fine art museum collections but represents guidelines rather than rules and can be adapted to a wide variety of collection types.