This chapter discusses methods by which information professionals working directly with museum collections can create meaningful cataloguing systems. We situate digital humanities (DH) research and the work of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) in a broader discussion of metadata practices using data from a survey and two case studies discussing embedded metadata and digital preservation practices. Overall, exploring the skills and knowledge that information professionals can provide for metadata creation in museums will highlight an underappreciated facet of interdisciplinary work in HD research and BAM work. 3. The recent development of museums, in particular the recognition of intangible heritage, has highlighted the broader character of collections while raising new challenges. Intangible collections (traditional knowledge, rituals and myths in ethnology, ephemeral gestures and performances in contemporary art) have led to the development of new systems of appropriation. The material composition of objects alone sometimes becomes secondary, and the documentation of the collection process, which has always been important in archaeology and ethnology, now becomes the most important information. This information is not only part of research, but also part of communication with the public. The free text portion of the collection-level description also serves an important purpose. When describing a collection, the importance of some items in the collection may be higher than others and should be emphasized to the user. For example, a museum may use very general terms to describe a collection of Impressionist art, but it is probably important to the user that the collection contains a work by Monet. The free text portion of the description allows the museum to highlight individual objects that cannot be described with the broad controlled vocabulary. Researchers wishing to access information about these collections online may be interested in one of the above interpretations of the term “collection”.

Museums cannot predict what their users will consider a collection, in what language or terminology they request the data, or what level of information they need (is it for a primary school project or a doctoral thesis?) Ideally, the collection-level description for resource discovery should provide access to many interpretations of user-dynamically created “collections.” For example, collection-level descriptions facilitate interdisciplinary multi-level access to web resources and databases for a diverse audience. But how would these collection-level descriptions ideally be created to achieve these goals? Security officials who have been tasked with protecting the collections of museums, art centers, or other non-profit institutions dedicated to ancient or rare objects should always be aware of the possible reproduction or simulation of their employer`s collections: In North America, some Native Americans argued in the 1970s and 1980s that, because some contemporary Native Americans had offspring relationships with skeletal remains, which are preserved in the museum`s collections. The disposal of these remains should be controlled exclusively by modern Native Americans. Many state laws dealt with this issue, and on 16. In November 1990, President Bush passed Public Act 101-601, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a congressional bill that directed all museums and laboratories in the United States (receiving federal funding) to inventory all human remains and associated grave goods to determine which of them might be associated with federally recognized tribes. to consult with affected tribes and to follow the wishes of the tribes regarding these collections. Contrary to popular belief, NAGPRA does not require reburial, but gives control of the final disposition of remains to the most appropriate, state-approved Native American or Hawaiian applicant. Groups are free to choose long-term retention, and the act was intended to establish a consultation process, after which, among other things, this option could be considered. Membership is the formal and legal process of including an object in a museum collection. Since adherence to an object implies the obligation to maintain that object permanently, it is a serious decision.