A preservation system : information for managing conservation in the Museum of London
Museum collections are held in trust for all. Their preservation is a primary museum function. Adequate, timely and relevant information is essential to success in this. The application of management information techniques to the management of museum conservation in general is discussed in detail. The background of management theory and management information is reviewed and its application to museum management is discussed. The operational context for museums is described. The operational system that the information is to serve is then analysed; only thus can information for managing be made relevant and useful. Systems analysis, and in particular soft systems methodology, has been developed as a tool for clarifying complex real world situations. The wider system, the operation of museums generally is first analysed using this technique; then, the processes of conservation itself. From this, a conceptual system and the processes it would have to include can be described. Functional information analysis is then used together with a discussion of key success factors to specify the generalised information requirements of these processes. The means by which the data for the system are collected and analysed are
Keene, Suzanne Victoria
Archaeology
A preservation system : information for managing conservation in the Museum of London. Museum collections are held in trust for all. Their preservation is a primary museum function. Adequate, timely and relevant information is essential to success in this. The application of management information techniques to the management of museum conservation in general is discussed in detail. The background of management theory and management information is reviewed and its application to museum management is discussed. The operational context for museums is described. The operational system that the information is to serve is then analysed; only thus can information for managing be made relevant and useful. Systems analysis, and in particular soft systems methodology, has been developed as a tool for clarifying complex real world situations. The wider system, the operation of museums generally is first analysed using this technique; then, the processes of conservation itself. From this, a conceptual system and the processes it would have to include can be described. Functional information analysis is then used together with a discussion of key success factors to specify the generalised information requirements of these processes. The means by which the data for the system are collected and analysed are
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