[Nhcoll-l] budgeting for moving a collection

Mon Jan 24 18:09:50 EST 2022

Hi, Colleen!  Andy and John bring up good points.  However, I do want to
add one thing that was a critical error during the move of our collections,
and that is to engage upper administration early to establish clear
objectives and timelines.

As an example, for our recent collections move, we were initially given a
timeline of 4 months to move about 15 million specimens/objects across our
anthropological, paleontological, and zoological collections.  That
timeline came from above and the curatorial staff was not consulted
a priori on the logistics and funding needs.  However, after substantial
pushback and many meetings later, we established a more reasonable timeline
of just over 2 years.

I hope that helps!

Take care,
Cody

Cody W. Thompson, PhD
Mammal Collections Manager
& Assistant Research Scientist
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology
3600 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Office: (734) 615-2810
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: cwthomp at umich.edu
Website: codythompson.org

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UMMZ/Herbarium has limited
personnel available working onsite. No loan returns should be shipped
without prior notification, and collection visits, loan requests, gifts,
exchanges, etc. should be coordinated with the appropriate curatorial
staff. Please expect delayed responses. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause.

On Mon, Jan 24, 2022 at 4:39 PM John E Simmons <simmons.johne at gmail.com>
wrote:

> It all depends on what you are moving and how far. To begin with, you
> should download a free copy of "Moving the Museum," which you can do here:
> https://www.smm.org/collections/moving
>
> You need to figure out what needs to be packed and how. I always recommend
> packing museum objects as if they will be packed long-term because too
> often things go wrong and the objects are packed away for a much longer
> period of time than anticipated. Don't cut corners. For example,there is a
> temptation to move cabinet contents by just wrapping the trays of specimens
> and objects (or worse, leaving them in the cabinets) which is a recipe for
> disaster such as the amount of vibration endured or what happens when a
> cabinet full of trays tips over. In general, museum objects and specimens
> must be packed with much more care than household or business goods. By
> evaluating the materials you need and the amount of objects or specimens to
> be moved, you should be able to make a rough prediction of the time needed
> and figure out whether you can train present staff or if you need to hire
> temporary staff and train them to do the packing.
>
> Consider also staging areas (space where boxes can be packed and stored),
> the volume of boxes and storage furniture to be moved, and the order than
> things should be moved in to avoid winding up with an unsorted jumble of
> boxes and storage furniture at the new location.
>
> I have been involved in a lot of collection moves, and based on my
> experience, once you get your rough estimate of supplies and time needed,
> increase each by at least 20% because these things always tend to get
> underestimated.
>
> Good luck!
>
> --John
>
> John E. Simmons
> Writer and Museum Consultant
> Museologica
> *and*
> Associate Curator of Collections
> Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
> Penn State University
> *and*
> Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
> Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 24, 2022 at 3:53 PM Colleen Evans <
> cevans at statenislandmuseum.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> As my institution starts to plan for moving our natural science
>> collections in a few years, does anyone have any guidance or advice for
>> determining a budget for the physical move? Are there specific moving
>> companies or types of movers I should look into? Non-obvious packing or
>> transport supplies? Something else? Note that things such as construction
>> costs and cabinetry are already accounted for. I’m talking the actual
>> packing and transporting between locations.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks in advance! Responses can be sent off-list.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Colleen
>>
>>
>>
>> Colleen Evans
>>
>> [she/her/hers]
>>
>> Director of Natural Science Interpretation and Collections
>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
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