Hiring collection managers: opportunities for collection managers and their institutions and allies

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ABSTRACTCollection management staff has emerged in museums, libraries, and archives over the last forty years to manage risks to preservation, monitor and maintain compliance with legal and ethical standards for collections, and serve as collection project managers. But their role ultimately serves to protect not only the collections, but also the institution’s reputation as a steward of cultural heritage. For a role that fulfils the organization’s responsibility to sustaining its mission-based collections, refining the competencies of collection managers in a way that they support hiring and advancement has only been minimally achieved. An analysis of responsibility keywords in seventy-eight collection management position descriptions illustrates unevenness in institutional approach to staffing collection management work in a way that aligns with stewardship goals. The lack of recognition for collection management advanced education and professionalization limits the reach of preventive conservation and risk management best practices in protecting tangible cultural heritage.