Big job ahead for Western Bay Museum curator Rosemary Deane

Rosemary Deane among a small area of unprocessed items from the old heritage museum. Photo / Rebecca Mauger

Eight months into her new job as Western Bay Museum collection curator, Rosemary Deane is 200 items deep into the colossal task of cataloguing items.

It's just the tip of the iceberg as there are more than 11,000 items in storage and researching, cataloguing and packing every item is a massive undertaking, she says.

It's a role she takes very seriously.

The small museum now plays in the big leagues under the umbrella of Museums Aotearoa with support from Te Papa National Services Te Paerangi. This means they are a public entity and they have certain responsibilities, Rosemary says.

One of Rosemary's first roles when starting at the museum in February was to bring in policies and procedures in keeping with museum practice.

''Museums Aotearoa has a code of ethics that we abide by so when people give us objects or archives, I have to make sure that they are documented so we know what we have, that they are stored in proper conditions and that we can find them again. If we decide to display them, we need to have background stories on them.''

Most of the collection is from Katikati Heritage Museum which closed in 2014. The collection was taken over by the newly formed Western Bay Heritage Trust Board in 2015.

The collection is vast and included a massive bottle collection and many relics from early pioneer and farming days.

However, the majority of the items' origins are unknown, Rosemary says. Their biggest focus is making sure everything is local to the Western Bay area. They get asked why the entire collection is not being shown.

''A lot of the collection, about 90 per cent, have no provenance which means we don't know who used them, who owned them, where they came from because it was not recorded.

''The whole point of collecting objects is the stories behind them and if you don't have that information, it's just an antique shop really,'' Rosemary says.

Most museums only have less than 10 per cent of their items on display and the rest is in storage, she says.

''And you don't just put these items out in the open where they can be touched, broken or stolen — we don't put history at risk.''

Rosemary uses the example of an old local school strap and the bell that belonged to the town crier ... because these items have provenance she has catalogued them and put them into their storage — for future preservation and exhibitions.

Handmade clay marbles from the late 19th century or early 20th century. These were found in the museum schoolroom and have now been catalogued and nested in foam. Photo / Supplied

There's also a preservation responsibility when new items are gifted to the museum, she says.

When items have no origin or no way of knowing who donated them, they are sometimes offered to other museums.

Everything that is documented goes online (eHive) where anyone can access the collection and for research opportunities.

''The other reason museums exist is for research. So research, preservation, enjoyment — those are all the things that museums offer.''

Highlights of the collection include the Samuel Middlebrook collection of taonga Māori, objects belonging to the original Ulster settlers, early industries of the area including dairying, kauri and orchard farming, domestic items, early school days, technology, war related objects and much more.

A new exhibition is being worked on now destined for opening in November, details to come soon.