Yes, indeed, a museum selling 'antiques' is an ethical conflict 
according to the ICOM code (sections 8.14, 8.15, 8.16) and clearly the 
board members and volunteers in question are in need of some guidance 
in regard to museum ethics.

I think that elsewhere, one assumes that US museums uphold the ICOM 
code of ethics. Within the US, I doubt most museum staff know what ICOM 
is. Unfortunately, the AAM is less than helpful in terms of ethics 
guidance (as a review of the work of the ethics committee over the last 
15 years will attest).

Within the US, the Museum Trustee Association (which once was a SPC but 
which left the AAM) might be a helpful resource for developing a code 
of ethics for your organization.

-L.D.


On Sep 16, 2005, at 12:44 PM, Joan Goodbody wrote:

> I would want to consider a couple of things:
> 1. if the antiques are similar to what is in the museum, is that not 
> conflict of interest?
> 2. Is selling antiques allowed for nonprofits with the new 
> restrictions of what is in a gift shop and tax considerations?
> Just wondering
> Joan Goodbody
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Todd Bothel
> Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 11:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Gift Shop Antiques
>
>
> This is a question regarding gift shops. We are in a stage of revamping
> our gift shop and the director, several board members and volunteers 
> want
> to add antiques and other historic items to our inventory. It seems 
> that
> we want to change the gift shop into an antique store similar to our
> city's historic shopping district. We are a history museum that tells 
> the
> story of our community and we also have a historic house museum. All of
> our collection items are historic and "antique."
>
> My question deals with some ethical issues. Is it proper for a history
> museum to sell historic objects in its gift shop? I thought that I had
> seen somewhere that reproductions were o.k. but not the genuine 
> article. I
> know at a former museum that I worked, we sold Native American items 
> but
> they were all reproductions. How would the public perceive that we are 
> not
> selling off our collection objects?
>
> Second, if I, the curator, pass on the object for inclusion into the
> museum's collection, is it then right for the director to request that 
> the
> objects be donated for sale in the gift shop? Again, I think we are
> crossing an ethical line.
>
> Any help that you all can give me would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks.

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