A Registrar’s Wish List #registrardreams

Nicht in meinem Depot! Superhelden-Fähigkeiten wären manchmal praktisch...

Not in my vaults! Sometimes we all could need some registrar superpowers…

As an spin-off of a discussion following the release of an article from Sheila Perry about their barcoding project at the National Galleries of Scotland (“If it moves, barcode it” ) Dan Smernicki (twitter @DanSmernicki ) came up with the idea for a new post on Registrar Trek:

“A Registrar’s Wish-list. Things that *should* exist, but for some infernal reason don’t.”

I guess you all have your dreams and wishes – some concrete and easy to realize if the Money-for-collections-care-fairy (“You’ve got 3 archival wishes”) appeared, some futuristic (magic glasses that let me see the object I’m searching for marked red in the rack) some out of wishful thinking (white gloves that remain white).

So far we have:

  • Dan Smernicki @DanSmernicki : a system which tracks items, and people, and reconciles the two.
  • Me @RegistrarTrek : condition reports on-the-fly and an app telling me if I have a fitting crate
  • Cecilia Peartree ‏@ceciliapeartree : Works of art that shriek loudly if nobody has notified the database team of their location change.
  • Maggie Mazzullo: I wish I had a special sixth sense that alerted me when people are/were in the vault area ‘rummaging’ around or otherwise causing an upsetting mess. Kind of a vault alarm and then I could appear right behind them and catch them in the act.
  • Maggie Mazzullo: I also wish I had a laser system that would target and vaporize pens, beverages and other verboten items as they were coming into the student study area to interact with artwork.
  • Caitlin (Schwartz) Rumery: I would have to add onto the aforementioned condition report one and say glasses that examine an object and let me know of any lose, unstable, or otherwise-about-to-break-in-my-hands parts.
  • Caitlin (Schwartz) Rumery: Also, a magic system that creates Crystal reports on the fly based on what I need at that moment.
  • Caitlin (Schwartz) Rumery: Lastly, a drone to follow my trucks so I can spy on my shipments and the drivers. That way I can make sure there is no funny business happening on the road…

Please add your wish/dream to the list, either by commenting or by using twitter and the hashtag #registrardreams

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5 thoughts on “A Registrar’s Wish List #registrardreams”

  1. I wish there was a law that says all paintings hanging in restaurants must be level. It’s so hard for me to eat while looking at poorly hung artwork. My husband has to make sure my seat does not face one of these poor paintings, for fear I will get up and straighten it (which I have done more than once).

  2. Latest for the wishlist – smart software which will tell you when inventory records deviate from the norm. Or when someone is going “off-reservation” in their data entry!

  3. Something to alert me that a custom support was not replaced after someone was taking images or used for a quick display. The object is back on the shelf without its supports and the supports are no where to be found.

  4. Interesting 2009 article on contractor vehicle tracking strategies. things that worked well for me for moving tens of thousands of rare and circulating books from city to city was routine communication with drivers, shippers, and receivers; regular planning meetings (beyond scheduling – route, process, etc.); documentation; and post-project analysis (close-out, post-mortem, etc.). These not only helped with sustaining schedules, but also seemed to keep everyone focused and funny business at a minimum.

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