Hope this helps! Anne
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Working in a museum as an educator, I know what these skills are,
but don't proclaim to be an expert. Cataloging skills generally means
knowledge of how to properly catalog an object for accession into a
museum's collection. That is, a systematic way of describing objects
that (ideally) allows others to understand the meaning, use, context,
etc. of the item regardless of the institution. The most common naming
system used in the US I beleive is Nomenclature. There may be other
systems for costume collecting, but I don't know. For example, in our
collection clothing is categorized as outerwear, underwear, footwear,
accessory, etc. Then they might be in subcategories, such as dress,
jacket, boot, etc. A dress could be listed as a dress, gown, wedding
gown, jumper or uniform, depending on its use and the museum's system of
cataloging. A system of cataloging is supposed to resolve confusion over
whether something is an item of dress, a personal object, a tool, etc.
While putting items in categories seems very straight forward, it can
get very complicated since objects often have multiple uses. Is an item
a work of art? A utilitarian item? Training or experience in cataloging
helps a registar or curator figure out how to make these choices.
Storage and safe handling: knowing when to lay a dress flat vs. hang
it on a padded hanger; use of acid-free materials and proper humidity
control; how to display and arrange clothing so that it is not damaged
by light or movement--try dressing a 1950s mannequin with a 1850s dress
and you will soon find that this requires a great deal of skill or
proper display forms (speaking from experience here!) For non
clothing--knowing which items might be made from hazardous or
combustible materials and how to protect them, staff and the storage
facility from any danger they might present.
