This is such a basic registrarial question, I hardly know where to begin.
If your auditor is asking this for insurance purposes, see below. If not,
then contact AAM for their statement regarding establishing values for
museum collections and how that is a different animal from valuing capital
assets.

First: This is a topic that is discussed with depressing regularity on the
listserv of the Registrars Committee of the American Association of
Museums. The very short answer is that neither of you should have to
provide a schedule of values in order to obtain appropriate insurance for
your collections. Frankly, as you have both discovered, it can be an
impressively expensive and overwhelming task--especially for a general
history museum with more flat irons than Van Goghs.

Second: Neither of your insurers understands the nature of a museum
collection. It is standard practice among most museums to provide an
insurer with a statement of "maximum probable loss."  This figure is the
result of a thoughtful analysis of what is stored where in your facility
and what might be lost in the event of a single tragedy. It does NOT come
from a complete aprasial of an entire collection. It may result from the
apprasial of a handful of very valuable items.

Third: Scheduled policies only pay for things listed in the schedule, if
you damage a recently acquired item that isn't yet listed--too bad.

Fourth: A very thoughtful discussion of the entire topic of museum
insurance appears in "The New Museum Registration Methods" edited by
Rebecca Buck and Jean Gilmore and available from the AAM bookstore (or
online). The chapter outlines in great detail the above concept and
discusses how to request bids for insurance from a variety of vendors.

On a personal note, several years ago I rebid my previous museum's
insurance. We went from a scheduled policy with a local agent who thought
he got us a 'great deal' to a museum policy with an insurer who specializes
in the museum industry. I got better coverage for higher limits at a much
cheaper rate. It pays to shop around when your policy is up for renewal.

Diane (Still a registrar at heart) Gutenkauf


On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 13:52:12 -0700, Nancy Geyer <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>I would love to hear the responses to this question. Our auditor has asked
>us to put a value on our collection and we have over 20,000 artifacts. We
>don't know where to begin.
>
>Thanks,
>Nancy
>
>Nancy Geyer, Interim Executive Director
>Boulder History Museum
>1206 Euclid Ave.
>Boulder, CO 80302
>303-449-3464
>
> -----Original Message-----
>From:   Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]  On
>Behalf Of Tom Culbertson
>Sent:   Tuesday, December 17, 2002 12:40 PM
>To:     [log in to unmask]
>Subject:        Collections insurance
>
>Dear List,
>
>Would anyone like to weigh in on the question of collections insurance?
>Ours is up for renewal and we got quite a boost in the rate.  We haven't
>made a claim in years because of a $5,000 deductible. There is also a
>request from the insurance company of a schedule of collections with
values.
>We have about 17,000 objects in our collections plus 1,000,000+ manuscripts
>and 75,000+ library volumes.  We could print out a list of objects but
there
>are no values assigned.  In the past we have declared a lump sum value and
>hoped for the best.  In today's economic climate we are trying to make a
>rational decision.  What has anyone else experienced?
>
>Thomas J. Culbertson
>Director of History and Education
>Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
>Spiegel Grove
>Fremont, OH 43420
>(419) 332-2081 phone
>(419) 332-4952 fax
>[log in to unmask]
>

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