The Royal British Columbia Museum has designed innovative storage methods that will promote careful handling and offer visible access to curators, exhibit designers and visitors. Polystyrene boxes Clear polystyrene boxes permit one to view artifacts without handling them.
Removable bases allow the artifacts to be taken from their boxes safely.
The bases are made of sheets of Coroplast and are the size of the inside dimensions of the box. The type of mount varies with the artifact. For instance, a mount for a mask is built to support the interior cavity of the mask. The base can be removed from the box with cotton twill tape that is threaded through the base. Several small objects such as baskets can be placed in one polystyrene box by separating them with thin strips of Ethafoam.