Abstract

Although most museum professionals understand the differences between a Collection Management Policy (CMP) and collection procedures, many find it difficult to create, update, and implement these different documents. The creation of a procedural manual for the Ethnology Department at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH) at the University of Oklahoma and an update of SNOMNH’s CMP led to an examination of the differences between policies and procedures, the varying processes of creating and/or updating these different documents, the difficulties of policy/procedure implementation, and the ultimate necessity of both types of documents.