The pressure that archaeological museums face in terms of a lack of storage space, staff reductions and a loss of expertise are well-known. Rationalisation (i.e. a selection strategy, with the purpose of de-selecting parts of the collection) is being increasingly suggested as one way to help mitigate the problem.
However, little practical guidance has been put forward. The Guidance for the Rationalisation of Museum Archaeology Collections, published by the Society for Museum Archaeology (SMA) in collaboration with Historic England, fills this void. The guidance marks the final stage of a collaborative project funded by Historic England and delivered in partnership with SMA and five institutions in England responsible for the collection and care of archaeological archives.
The project demonstrated that rationalisation is not a cost-effective way to increase storage capacity. It instead suggests other space-saving solutions (e.g. tips for repacking archives to reduce volume).