Mouse eating through a basket. Photo courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Conservation Center, Denver, CO.

1. Introduction
- Contents and expectations
- Format
- Navigation

2. Introduction to Curation
- What is archeological curation?
- Why is curation important?
- Brief history of U.S. archeology and curation
- Is there a curation crisis?

3. Relevant Laws, Regulations, Policies and Ethics
- Antiquities Act
- Cultural resource laws into the 1970s
- Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA)
- Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation
- Curation of Federally Owned and Administered Archaeological Collections  (36 CFR 79)
- Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
- State, tribal and local laws and policies
- Contractor and university policies
- Ethics

4. Today's Key Issues
- Introduction
- Ownership
- Costs
- Standards for care and management
- Conservation and heritage interests
- Professional responsibilities and practices
- Deaccessioning
- Information and records management
- Growth management

5. Curation Prior to the Field
- Project design
- Budgeting for curation
- Collecting strategy

6. Curation in the Field and Lab
- Field collection
- Field conservation and preservation
- Laboratory sampling and management
- Laboratory conservation and management

7. Repositories: Their Functions and Policies
- Types of repositories
- Collections policies
- Staff
- Functions and programs

8. Collections Management
- Cataloging
- Labeling
- Packing
- Storage environment
- Conservation and preservation
- Inventory
- Records and data management

9. Access and Use of Collections
- Introduction
- Policies and procedures
- Loans
- Public access
- Researcher access
- Destructive analysis
- Intellectual property rights

10. The Future
- Long term care issues
- New technologies for access
- Conclusions

Glossary