Basic Condition Reporting - 5th Edition by Southeastern Registrars Association & Deborah Rose Van Horn & Corinne Midgett

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This easy-to-use guide offers a standard vocabulary for conducting condition reports. It has been updated throughout and includes four new chapters, including one on digital condition reporting.

Review Quotes

As a registrar at an academic museum, I rely on Basic Condition Reporting as a vital resource for training interns and students in the museums studies program. The revised fifth edition continues to provide the core terms and procedures needed for properly condition reporting objects of all types, while also addressing the various uses for condition reports and the ever-changing approaches to conducting the reports in the digital world. Basic Condition Reporting is a must-have for both emerging and seasoned museum collections professionals.

Basic Condition Reporting ought to be a staple of any museum collection professional's library. The fifth edition, which includes new guidance on digital condition reporting, brings the world of condition reporting up to speed with the realities of a post-pandemic society.

The breadth of information included in Basic Condition Reporting: A Handbook, 5th Edition is so complete that every collection-care professional will be able to find the terminology best suited to condition any object or artwork. In my fourteen years as Registrar, I've habitually used this handbook and will continue to do so with the expanded 5th edition.

This synergistic collaboration of professionals with specializations in a variety of artifact types guides readers to document condition thoroughly with useful methods and terminology. The value of this manual extends well beyond condition reporting; it also addresses artifact care and cataloging and serves as an excellent introduction to working with collections.

This updated and expanded edition of the well-respected standard handbook for condition reporting includes new chapters on digital condition reporting, wood, and taxidermy, along with detailed definitions, updated references and clear guidelines. This is an invaluable resource that every registrar, collection manager, and curator should have at hand.

About the Author

The Southeastern Registrars Association (SERA) was founded in the 1970s to encourage high standards of museum practice and professional growth among museum registrars in the southeastern region of the United States. Throughout the years they have promoted the exchange and dissemination of information and ideas through publications, seminars, and other means. Basic Condition Reporting has become one of their premier publications with many copies sold both domestically and internationally.
Deborah Rose Van Horn has worked in the museum field now for over 20 years in the areas of registration, collections management, collections development, and curation. Deb is a former board member for both the Southeastern Registrars Association (SERA) and RC-AAM (now CS-AAM). In addition, Deb has written and edited several publications including Basic Condition Reporting, 4th edition and Registration Methods for the Small Museum, 5th edition.
Corinne Midgett has over ten years of experience as a registrar and collections manager. She serves as chair of the Southeastern Registrars Association and was co-editor of Basic Condition Reporting, 4th Edition.
Heather Culligan has over ten years of experience in collections management and registration in history museums and historic structures. Heather is a former co-instructor of Collections Management in Museums at the University of West Georgia, a former board member of the Southeastern Registrars Association (SERA), and served as a co-editor of Basic Condition reporting, 4th Edition.