A museum registrar keeps the records for every object: who owns it, where it came from, what shape it is in and where it is now. They do the paperwork for gifts and loans, set up insurance and shipping, and log each time an object moves.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
This role is for museums and historic sites. Our Registrar keeps the legal and physical record of every object in the collection. You manage accession and loan paperwork, condition reports, insurance and shipping, and you track where every object is. When an object comes in, goes out, or moves between galleries and storage, it goes through you.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Accession new objects once they're approved under your collections policy: deeds of gift, purchase records, numbering, photos and catalog records.
Manage incoming and outgoing loans: loan agreements, condition reports, insurance certificates, credit lines and return dates.
Arrange packing, crating, shipping and couriers for loans and traveling exhibitions with fine art shippers.
Keep the collection insurance schedule current with the CFO, and handle claims when an object is damaged.
Track every object's location in [PastPerfect, TMS or your collections database], and run regular inventories of storage and galleries.
Process deaccessions by your collections policy, with full records of the board's decision and where each object went.
Check provenance and legal papers before acquisitions, including NAGPRA, cultural property and import rules where they apply.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Update object locations and records after every move, install or deinstall.
Write condition reports for objects coming in, going out or going on display.
Answer loan, image and research requests from other museums and researchers.
Check storage temperature and humidity readings, and report problems to the Curator and the Facilities Manager.
Prepare loan and accession files for the Curator's review.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Object locations accurate at inventory: [your target].
Loan agreements signed before objects ship: [your target].
Accession backlog: [your target].
Catalog records with photos: [your target].
Objects damaged in handling or transit: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in [museum studies, art history, history, anthropology, or a related field], or equivalent experience.
[3+] years of registration or collections management work at a museum.
Has written loan agreements, condition reports and accession records.
Hands-on skill with a collections database such as [PastPerfect, TMS, or your system].
Knows safe object handling, packing and storage practices.
6. Preferred Experience
Master's degree in museum studies or a related field.
Experience with traveling exhibitions and fine art shippers.
Has handled NAGPRA inventories or consultations, if your collection includes Native American cultural items.
Has couriered objects to or from other museums.
7. Physical Requirements
Lift and move objects, crates and boxes up to [40] pounds with proper handling methods, getting help for heavier pieces.
Climb ladders in storage and stand for long periods during installs and inventories.
Work in cool or dusty storage areas, with gloves and protective equipment as needed.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time on weekdays, with some after-hours work during installs and deinstalls.
Travel as a courier for loans: [how often].
Works in storage, galleries, the loading dock and an office.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new registrar gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Shops, libraries and private owners keep track of objects too. A nonprofit or public museum adds donors' tax forms, accreditation reviews and federal rules for Native American items.
Every object needs a paper trail
Under AAM's collections standards, a museum should know what it owns, where each object came from, its current condition and where it is now. The standards also call for a record of every move into, out of and within the building. The registrar is the person who keeps that true, one location update at a time. Source: American Alliance of Museums: Collections Stewardship Standards.
Gifts come with IRS limits
IRS Publication 561 says the charity that receives a gift can't be the appraiser for the donor's tax deduction. Neither can anyone it employs. The museum's written acknowledgment describes the object but not its value. So the registrar sends donors to an outside appraiser and keeps dollar figures out of the thank-you letter. Source: IRS Publication 561: Determining the Value of Donated Property.
An early sale means another form
Selling, trading or giving away certain donated items within three years of the gift triggers IRS Form 8282. The museum uses it to report the disposal to the IRS and to the donor. Flag recent gifts in the database so a sale or a trade with another museum doesn't miss the filing. Source: IRS: About Form 8282, Donee Information Return.
Native American items need consultation
NAGPRA covers museums and public agencies that get federal funds and hold Native American human remains or cultural items. The museum must ask the descendants, tribes and Native Hawaiian groups tied to those items how they should be stored and handled. It must also make a good-faith effort to use their traditional knowledge in that care. The registrar keeps the inventory and a record of each talk. Source: 43 CFR 10.1, NAGPRA regulations (Cornell LII).
The Form 990 asks about the collection
A nonprofit museum that holds art, historical treasures or similar collections fills in Part III of Schedule D with its Form 990. The IRS says to answer how the collection is used from the accession and other records. Clean registrar files make that part quick and right for the CFO. Source: IRS: Instructions for Schedule D (Form 990).
How much museum registrars make
The closest BLS group for museum registrars is museum technicians and conservators. Museum technicians and conservators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $23.34 an hour ($48,540 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $51,440 median for museum technicians and conservators in all industries. About 5,980 of the 12,310 museum technicians and conservators in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Registrars may be hourly or salaried. Tell candidates how you count courier travel days and evening installs, since both add hours to the week.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$48,540$48,540 median Middle half $38,110–$62,900 10th–90th $31,910–$78,460
All industries
$51,440$51,440 median Middle half $41,050–$67,640 10th–90th $33,780–$87,530
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k$100k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$31,910
$38,110
$48,540
$62,900
$78,460
All industries
$33,780
$41,050
$51,440
$67,640
$87,530
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has written condition reports, loan agreements and accession records
Exact data entry that catches its own mistakes
Safe object handling, packing and storage habits
Polite, firm follow-up with lenders, shippers and insurers
Keeps many open loans and deadlines straight at once
Teach these on the job
Your collections database and numbering system
Your collections policy, loan forms and credit lines
Your insurer's claim steps and the CFO's insurance schedule
Courier duties for your traveling exhibitions
Your NAGPRA inventory and consultation files
Most registrars work in a collections database such as PastPerfect or TMS. They also use a camera, a condition-report kit and data loggers that record storage temperature and humidity. Tell candidates which database you use and whether the records are current or need a cleanup project.
Museum registrar interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
The right numbers depend on the collection's size and how far behind the records are. Set each target after a first inventory, then review it with the Curator twice a year.
Object locations accurate at inventory
Pull a random list of locations from the database and check each object on the shelf or in the gallery. Count the matches and log every miss with its fix.
Loan agreements signed before objects ship
For each loan in or out, compare the date both sides signed with the ship date. Any object that moved before signing counts as a miss.
Accession backlog
Count approved objects that still lack a number, a signed deed of gift or a catalog record. Track the count monthly and note the oldest item waiting.
Catalog records with photos
Run a database report of records with no image, by collection area, and watch it shrink after each photography session.
Objects damaged in handling or transit
Log every damage report with its cause: packing, handling, crate, shipper or display. Review the log with the Curator after each install and loan.
Career path
Collections assistant or internNumbers objects, scans files and learns safe handling.
Associate registrarHandles loans and condition reports under the registrar.
RegistrarKeeps the legal and physical record of the collection.
Chief registrar or director of collectionsLeads the collections staff, the database and storage planning.
CuratorSome registrars move into planning the collection itself.
A registrar handles the paperwork and the moves for every object. That covers gift files, loans in and out, condition reports, insurance, shipping and couriers, plus a location for each piece. On a normal day they log moves, write condition reports, answer loan and photo requests, and check storage climate readings.
How much does a museum registrar make?
Museum technicians and conservators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $23.34 an hour ($48,540 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $38,110 and $62,900 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What is the difference between a registrar and a collections manager?
The registrar owns the legal and paper side: ownership, loans, insurance and records. A collections manager owns the physical side: storage, housing, pest control and day-to-day care. Some museums combine the two. Title the role by the work it does most, and if one person will do both, describe the storage and care work in the ad as fully as the records work.
Does a registrar need a museum studies degree?
The template's floor is a four-year degree, or work experience in its place, plus three or more years of registration work. A master's in museum studies is a bonus. The hands-on work matters more than the diploma. In the interview, have candidates trace one loan they handled from the first request to the object's return, and listen for the forms, the crate and the insurance.
Why do lenders ask whether a museum is accredited?
AAM says its accreditation helps make loans between museums easier. Accredited or not, expect a lender to ask about your security, climate control and fire protection before saying yes. The registrar prepares those answers, so hire someone who has filled out lender forms before.
How often does a museum registrar travel?
It depends on your loans and traveling exhibitions. A courier, often the registrar, may ride with valuable objects to unpack them, write the condition report and watch the install at the other end. Count last year's outgoing loans to estimate the trips, and share that estimate in the ad.
