Moving On: Rethinking Practice and Transforming Data at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge

Abstract

Scholarly attention is increasingly focusing on museum catalogues: their histories, challenges and, as this paper explores, their potential. Many databases contain outdated information and offensive language, the legacy of colonial-era knowledge production and digitization processes that translated catalogue cards into database entries. Much has been written about the potential of catalogues to act as sites of contact and collaboration, as well as how institutions can and should mitigate harm stemming from discriminatory language within their catalogues. Yet as museum practitioners are acutely aware, the extensive work required to enact change throughout a database is rarely perceived as exciting enough to garner dedicated project funding. This paper uses the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Stores Move Project (2020–2024) as a case study to illustrate how museums can, and realistically must, integrate critical documentation work into larger projects in order to achieve these objectives. The authors first engage with MAA’s own history of collecting and cataloguing, before detailing how collections staff have incorporated documentation priorities (re-cataloguing, historicizing data, and addressing bias) into the larger Project. They conclude with the hope that by making this work more visible and demonstrating its value, such projects might attract dedicated funding in the future.