Hi TMS Listserv,

We are reevaluating some of our standards for the text entry fields in TMS, and two that are being particularly tricky are the ‘Curatorial Remarks’ and the ‘Notes’ fields. In our basic practices manual, ‘Curatorial Remarks’ is described as being for general comments concerning the object, but is also not restricted just to curators. Departments that currently have access to the ‘Curatorial Remarks’ field include Registrar, Collections Management, and Conservation. The ‘Notes’ field was not originally intended to be for permanent information, but for notes on entry fields that needed to be corrected or additional information that needed to be added to the TMS record or physical file, and removed with those tasks were completed.

In reality, the standards set up above are not followed. The problem is that these two fields have become interchangeable in terms of use, with curators putting their comments in the ‘Notes’ field and information that is not intended to be permanent put into ‘Curatorial Remarks’.

I would like to know what criteria other museums use to differentiate between these two text entry fields in TMS. Input from museums using any version of TMS are appreciated!

Thank you!

Marisa Szpytman

Registrar Intern

Detroit Institute of Arts