The Museum Curator's Guide

A practical reference book for emerging arts and heritage professionals working with a wide range of objects, including fine art, decorative arts, social history, ethnographic, and archaeological collections. The Museum Curator's Guide explores the core work of the curator within a gallery or museum setting. Commencing with a clear overview of and introduction to current material culture and museum studies theories, Nicola Pickering then discusses their practical application with collections. Illustrated with specific case studies, she considers the role of the curator, their duties, day to day work, interaction with and care or preservation of objects, and the myriad ways objects can be catalogued, displayed, moved, arranged, stored, interpreted, and explained in a present-day museum. The Museum Curator's Guide represents an essential and lasting resource for all those working with the collection, preservation, and presentation of objects, including students of collections management and curatorship; current gallery and museum professionals; and private collectors.