Last December we announced that the MOA was taking over the 8000 square foot repository formerly operated by Western University.  As part of this transfer, the museum has also taken responsibility for the care of the objects, introducing millions of new artifacts to the museum’s collections.  These include collections from UWO’s Anthropology department, as well as hundreds of boxes from cultural resource management firms including ASI, TMHC, Dr. Poulton, Golder, AECOM, and Amec Foster Wheeler. The museum has also taken over the responsibility of caring for over 2000 boxes of archaeological materials for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport that were transferred to the repository in September 2017. These materials are now accessible to Indigenous communities, and to support interpretation and research taking place at the museum!

Work is underway by collections staff and volunteers to integrate these with existing collections, and bring all materials up to the standards of packaging and care for long term storage in the repository.  This involves repackaging of collections, moving archaeological collections from the museum’s storage area into the new repository, and completing data entry of artifact and inventory information.

Interested in helping out?  Check out our current Volunteer Opportunities!