Improvement of Storage and Access to Native American Basket Collection

在国家科学基金会的支持下，加州大学伯克利分校的菲比·赫斯特人类学博物馆将购买一个有147个橱柜的压实机搁板系统，每个橱柜都配有内部搁板和铰链门。这些将被用来储存博物馆收藏的美洲原住民篮子。最大的部分由来自加利福尼亚州的9014个标本组成。另有2235人来自北美其他地区。藏品目录中的第一个条目可以追溯到1901年，博物馆一直致力于收集材料，记录这一文物类别的变异性和随时间的变化。这些材料附有出色的文件，在某些情况下，这些文件不仅包括成品，还包括制造它的原材料以及有关制造过程细节的信息。这些收藏品被广泛用于研究目的，每年都有许多学者要求查阅这些材料。由于空间有限，这些篮子一直存放不当。物品一件一件地叠在一起，这种做法可能会导致形状变形。这也意味着，为了取回单个样本，必须移动许多样本，结果是无法接受的磨损程度。香港大学已预留更多空间，如果使用得当，将可纾缓挤迫的问题。压实机提供了一种在相对较小的空间内存储大量材料的极好和广泛使用的方法，这笔赠款将允许在不堆叠的情况下存储篮子。这将加强材料的保存，并改善希望研究这些材料的人类学家的接触机会。

With National Science Foundation support, the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley will purchase a compactor shelving system with 147 cabinets, each supplied with internal shelving and hinged doors. These will be used to store the museum's collection of Native American baskets. The largest portion consists of 9,014 specimens from California. An additional 2,235 derive from other areas in North America. The first entry in the collection's catalogue dates to 1901 and the museum has worked consistently to the present time to collect materials which document the variability and change over time of this artifact class. The materials are accompanied by excellent documentation which in some cases this includes not only finished product, but also the raw materials from which it was made along with information on details of the manufacturing process. The collection has been widely used for research purposes and each year many scholars request access to this material. Because of limited space these baskets have been improperly stored. Items are stacked one inside the other, a practice which can lead to deformation in shape. This also means that to retrieve a single specimen, many must be moved and the result is an unacceptable degree of wear and tear. The University has made additional space available which, if properly used, will alleviate the overcrowding problem. Compactors provide an excellent and widely employed means to store large amounts of material in a relatively small space and this grant will permit the baskets to be stored without stacking. This will result in enhanced preservation of the materials and improve access to anthropologists who wish to study them.