Rachel A. Shabica
Current Position
Registrar, The Textile Museum, Washington, DC
● Supervise all aspects of Collections Management activities pertaining to both
the permanent collections and loans (incoming, outgoing, and including entire
loan exhibitions). Implement policies and procedures for acquisition,
documentation (Argus database system), management and disposition of the
Museum’s permanent collection and other objects in the Museum’s custody.
Manage the collections storage and collections inventory together with the
Conservation department. Supervise Assistant Registrar and Photo Archives
Coordinator. Participate in Administrative Council (senior staff). Coordinate
Collections Management Task Force (staff governing body) and act as liaison to
the Board of Trustees’ Collections Committee. Act as secondary Emergency Plan
Coordinator. March 2002 – Present.
Duty Officer, The Textile Museum, Washington, DC
● Senior Museum staff member responsible for overall Museum operations
during specific periods and for specific events outside of normal Museum hours
Monday through Friday. July 2001 – Present.
Previous Museum Experience
Assistant Registrar, The Textile Museum, Washington, DC
Responsible for processing all incoming objects, preparing objects for storage,
location control, generation of registrarial records (ARGUS database system),
development of Collection Management reports from database, providing support
for inventory projects and for activities associated with both in-house and loan
exhibitions. Active participant in several museum-governing bodies: Collections
Management Task Force, Planning and Budgeting Task Force, and Emergency
Management Task Force. July 1999 – February 2002.
Acting Registrar and Photo Archivist, The Textile Museum (due to vacancies in
both positions). Responsibilities included coordination of incoming loans for
exhibitions, coordination of insurance floater values for loan and deposit objects,
development of budget for Collections department, providing images of collection
objects to in-house departments and outside researchers and publishers,
maintenance of image collection and registration files, and attending to all
inquiries related to collections management. May-October 2000.
Collections Management Intern, Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, AR
Responsibilities included cataloguing the Museum’s 17,000+ collection and
inputting it into the Museum’s computer system (COLLECTION), environmental
monitoring, managing and monitoring the Integrated Pest Management Program,
helping prepare for and participating in various exhibits and other museum
functions. September 1998 - June 1999.
Education
TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Medford, MA – Masters in History May 1998, and Certificate in
Museum Studies February 1998.
HAVERFORD COLLEGE, Haverford, PA – Bachelor of Arts in History May 1996
Professional Development
One month residence at Azerbaijan State Museum of Carpet and Applied Arts, Baku,
Azerbaijan. International Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM) exchange 2005-2007.
June 2006.
MAAM Annual Meeting, Bridging Communities. October 2006.
AAM Annual Meeting, A Centennial of Ideas: Exploring Tomorrow’s Museums. April
2006.
MAAM Annual Meeting, Oh Say Can You See. October 2005.
American Association of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting, A Defining Moment:
Museums at the Crossroads. May 2005. Crozier Award Recipient (travel stipend to
attend conference) from Registrars Committee, AAM.
MAAM Annual Meeting, In Museums we Trust, Chaired and presented “Moving your
Collections” session. October 2004.
MAAM Annual Meeting, Museums Meet the Collaboration Challenge. October 2003.
MAAM Annual Meeting, Legends, Lore, Lies and Lust: Museums and Truth. October
2001.
Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) Workshop, Marie Malaro: Legal Issues
that Pertain to Museum Collections. September 2001.
Database Training - PowerBuilder software (for ARGUS users), Questor Systems. July
2000.
ALI-ABA Course, Legal Problems of Museum Administration. March 2000
Arkansas Museum Association Annual Conference, presented A Bug’s Life - session on
Integrated Pest Management in Museums. March 1999.
Professional Affiliations
AAM (and RC-AAM) Member, 1998-Present
MAAM (and RC-MAAM) Member, 2001-Present
Co-Chair, RC-MAAM, elected for term 2004-2006
Program committee member, MAAM Annual Meeting, October 2006
Chair, RC-MAAM, elected for term 2006-2009