Museum acting director Cam McCracken said in a report to yesterday's museum board meeting that ''excellent progress'' had been made on the big ''collections legacy'' project.
The museum was ''well on track to complete this task'' of processing the items formally into the collection.
They were part of a six-year backlog of items which had built up after the museum's $37.5million redevelopment and reopening in December 2012.
The backlog of received items includes medals, vacuum cleaners, photographs, computers and even a car.
Mr McCracken was pleased with the positive progress.
Toitu exhibition developer William McKee said yesterday the backlog had formed as the redeveloped museum had gone from having about 80,000 visitors a year to more than 310,000.
That higher profile led to a big increase in donation inquiries, ''thus forming the backlog''.
Over the past eight months, museum staff had been asked to refocus from their usual tasks to ''addressing the backlog so the acquisitions could be recorded and housed appropriately'', he said.
Addressing the backlog was ''a bit of a daunting task'' and initial forecasts suggested it could take three or four years.
The prospect of completing the work by the end of this month was ''very satisfying''.
Highlights among the donated items will be displayed in a temporary exhibition at Toitu in November.
