Technical Staff and Research Collections

Kate Dougherty

Curator, Demonstrator/Technician, Department of Anthropology

BSc (Trent), MA (Western), PhD candidate (Trent)

Life & Health Sciences DNA C211, ext. 7690, kdougherty@trentu.ca

Research Interests: ceramic residues, plant microfossils, historic archaeology, Middle Woodland, mortuary archaeology, skeletal biology, Great Lakes Region

Research Collections Policy

All collections, including documentation, are accessible on a ‘first come, first served’ basis to anyone having research or educational interests.

Anyone wishing to view or use the collections is required to make his or her request in writing to the Curator; this request should be accompanied by a brief proposal explaining the nature of the research or educational interest. The written request is evaluated by either the Curator, or if they deem necessary, the Collections Committee. If the Curator and/or Collections Committee determines the request is inappropriate then permission to access the collections will be denied; this decision is final and cannot be appealed.

Abuse of, or theft from the collections (including theft of documentation and intellectual property theft) shall be grounds for refusal of future access. The researcher must acknowledge the contribution of the Department in any publications or presentations arising from their access to the material, and provide copies of reports or publications arising from study of the Department’s research collections.

As a standard practice, research collections are held in secure storage, and will be brought into faculty or Department labs as required for research. Access will be limited to the collection or collections for which a request has been made; no other material can be accessed without direct supervision of the Curator. Requests for shipping of collections elsewhere will be evaluated (by the Curator and/or Collections Committee) on a case-by-case basis.

No alteration, sampling, modification or testing of objects is permitted without prior written authorization in the form of a signed Department of Anthropology Destructive Sampling Agreement. Under no circumstances is testing permitted in the absence of this agreement, including on the basis of verbal discussions with any staff member, curator, or administrator.

The material will not be repaired or consolidated. If breakage occurs, the Borrower will notify the Curator, Department of Anthropology, Trent University, stating the accession number of the damaged object(s) so that repairs can be done at the end of the loan period. Failure to do so may result in refusal of future access.

Collections content and condition will be verified upon each return.