Hello Sarah et al.,
To add to Ellen Carrlee's response which is the typical "Personal
Collecting" policy:
The AAM produced a wonderful booklet about "Museum Ethics" (1978). [I
wonder if it has ever been reissued?] Pages 18-19 include a section on
Personal Collecting which reads, in part:
"No employee may compete with his [or her] institution
in any personal collecting activity. The museum must
has the right, for a specified and limited period, to
acquire any object purchased or collected by any staff
member at the price paid by the employee.
"Museum employees must inform the appropriate officials
about all personal acquisitions. They also must
disclose all circumstances regarding personal
collections and collecting activities, and furnish in a
timely manner information on prospective sales or
exchanges." (p. 19)
So, a partial list of the most relevant questions to be answered in a
museum's official policy on personal collecting includes:
* What objects may (and may not) staff collect?
"No employee may participate in any dealing ...
in objects similar or related to the objects
collected by the museum." (p. 19)
* What acquisition processes are permitted?
One interesting scenario:
"Objects that are bequests or genuine personal
gifts should be exempt from the museum's right
to acquire." (p. 19)
* What process should be used for disclosure of
personal collecting activities?
(i.e., a written report? a presentation before
the acquisitions committee or board of
directors/governors? something else?)
* How can the museum override personal collecting,
within what specified time?
(i.e., a written letter from the director or
board of directors/governors? How many weeks
or months from the date of disclosure?
* Do different staff roles have different rules?
(i.e., maybe those involved in acquisitions for
the museum ought to have rules, whereas those
uninvolved in acquisitions for the museum
should not?)
I do hope the AAM doesn't mind the extensive quotations included above.
This is a fundamentally important question, one which most museums
dismiss - though they should not. This is a means of protecting
everyone: museums and their staff.
After all, a curator of photography might be an avid collector of
photography. This could very well present an ethical problem: Do I buy
this for the museum or for my personal collection? Similarly, there are
many anthropological, archaeological, cultural, historical, etc. items
that are desired by museums and private collectors.
Naturally, this can be related to the ethics involved in an art museum's
rental and/or sale department. Should staff be permitted to rent or buy
from such a department? Should staff receive a discount or preferred
rate?
Best wishes to all, sincerely,
Jay Heuman
Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
Joslyn Art Museum
2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
342-3300 (telephone) 342-2376 (fax)
Real beauty cannot be hidden --
it lives within the beautiful and
will surface in the hearts of
those close.
Scotty Cahill
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Sessions Sarah J Civ USAFM/MUX
> Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 12:33 pm
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Art Museums vs Other Museums
>
>
> Hello All-
>
> Wonder if I might pick the List Serve collective brain about
> the issue of museum staff personal collecting and the
> possibility of conflicts of interest. Specifically, I'm
> wondering if there is any difference in philosophy between
> the fine art museum world and other museums (basically all
> others) regarding these issues. I hope not to raise a
> firestorm here, but I'm interested in getting a feel for
> whether practices acceptable to one side of the house are
> unacceptable or questionable to the other side. Folks are
> welcome to respond to me on or off-line. Thanks very much-
>
> __________________________________________________
> Sarah J. Sessions
> Plans & Programs Office
> United States Air Force Museum
> USAFM/MUX
> 1100 Spaatz St.
> Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7102
> COMM (937) 255-5174 x376
> DSN 785-5174 x376
> FAX COMM (937) 656-4340
> FAX DSN 986-4340
> [log in to unmask]
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