Exercise 1: Quiz – The How and Why of Documenting Collections

Instructions:

• Circle the right answer or write the answer in the space provided.
• There is only one right answer.

1. A well-documented collection encourages sound management and promotion of the objects.
   • False
   • True
2. The only way to conserve the collections in the long run is to preserve their physical integrity.
   • False
   • True
3. A collection's descriptive system or documentation system, is a logical, ordered and meticulous organization of the information on each of the elements making up the collections.
   • False
   • True
4. An inventory is a systematic and meticulous survey of the descriptive and contextual information on each element of a collection.
   • False
   • True
5. We can distinguish three main processes when documenting the collections:
   • a) counts, physical inventory, cataloguing
   • b) counts, cataloguing, digitization
   • c) cataloguing, physical inventory, digitization
   • d) cataloguing, counts, digitization
6. The collections' physical inventory enables you:
   • a) to answer only basic questions about the nature and number of objects found in the collections;
   • b) to determine the nature and size of the collections in order to plan storage space more precisely;
   • c) to systematically organize detailed descriptive information on objects and to gain a scientific understanding of the collection.
7. List the advantages and disadvantages of each documenting process.
   • Counts:
   • Physical inventory:
   • Cataloguing: