Making a virtue out of necessity. The Archive of the National Museum of Natural Sciences

Abstract

The work in a museum, a library or an archive implicitly requires the physical presence of its technicians in the place where the collections are deposited. The reception, registration, conditioning and cataloguing of their collections is a priori impossible outside the space where they are housed. Furthermore, Law 16/1985, of June 25, 1985, on Spanish Historical Heritage, declares the properties and collections of museums, archives and libraries owned by the State to be Assets of Cultural Interest (art. 60.1), and only allows their assets to be removed with prior authorization, granted by Ministerial Order (art. 63.2).