Following successful initial discussions, the collections manager will carry out a consultation with the institutions to assess the online resource.

Originally each collections manager focused on a specific format area but over time this focus devolved.

"We basically don't rule out very much," said Cynthia Trope, the collections manager of the department.

"It was common for artists to sell their designs to get money," said Gregory Herringshaw, the department's collections manager.

A new collections manager will concentrate on maintaining the artifacts, a task Ms. Sandler said had not received a lot of attention in recent years.

"We won't see people in this neighborhood for six months," said Mrs. Causey, 43, a collections manager.

Jane Rubin, the collections manager, said the museum's collection was "incredible considering the shape of the building."

In 1944 she became the national library's collections manager, her concern focused primarily on the safety of the collection during wartime.

The festival is traditional in China, said Sushan Chin, the collections manager at the museum.

The absence of a full-time collections manager may indicate the museum does not hold a traditional collection of accessioned, permanent objects.