The Collections Care (CC) Notices are visible identifiers developed specifically for institutions and repositories to support proper cultural care and stewardship of collections, led and guided by Indigenous protocols and authority.
The CC Notices recognize that there are accompanying cultural rights, protocols, and responsibilities that govern the care, display, and access to cultural materials within collections. This reflects Indigenous sensibilities and worldviews where these collections are not objects but need to be cared for as relatives and relations.
The CC Notices are for implementation by institutions and repositories internally and directly on collections as well as within policy, workflows, and practices surrounding the care and stewardship of these important collections.
These Notices were developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
For more information on how to display or use the Notices, view the Collections Care Usage Guide or register for the Local Contexts Hub.
The Local Contexts Hub subscription model will be launched as part of our work toward sustainability (see more in this blog post), however, access to the Collections Care Notices will not require a subscription.
Planning to use the Collections Care Notices
1. Establish support at an institutional, departmental, or otherwise administrative policy level to ensure the CC Notices receive adequate internal support in implementation and use.
2. Engage with Indigenous community authorities to determine the culturally appropriate care and governance for relatives and relations held in the collections.
3. Create an institution account with the Local Contexts Hub at www.LocalContextsHub.org and download the Collections Care Notices. The Local Contexts Hub subscription model will be launched as part of our work toward sustainability (see more in this blog post), however, access to the Collections Care Notices will not require a paid subscription.
4. Assign the CC Notices after engaging with Indigenous community authorities. Primarily, these Notices should be used in collections storage areas, and where possible, the Notices should also be implemented into the institutional CMS.
Overall Notice
This is the overall Notice icon that can be used to indicate that some or all of the Collections Care Notices are being used.
This is the inverted version of the current overall Notice for the other Local Contexts Notices, reflecting the internal use of these Notices.
Notice Text
You are entering a space where Collections Care Notices are in use. Be prepared to follow the protocols for access, use, handling, and viewing associated with certain items or collections. These are in place for the care of the collections and the communities to whom they belong. For more information about Collections Care Notices, see localcontexts.org.
