During the Museum Congress museum professionals were surveyed on loan traffic (2010) and research (2011).
During the 2010 Museum Congress, 81 museum professionals were questioned about loan traffic and damage to objects during loan traffic.
Storage in the Centraal Museum. Photo: Anushka Blommers en Niels Schumm.
Almost 70% of respondents indicated that they or their museum received or supplied loans. Germany and Belgium were the countries that most frequently received loans. 40% of respondents reported that objects had recently been damaged as a result of loan traffic. When damage occurred, it was usually during the packing and unpacking of objects at the loanee institution.
At the 2011 Museum Congress, 61 museum professionals were surveyed. More than 95% indicated that their museum carried or contracted out some form of research. In most cases this concerned the investigation of objects or collections. In addition, research on visitors and research for exhibitions were popular. Respondents rated the research climate in museums at 6 -.