The Registrars Committee of the American Association of
Museums (as well as others) have been grappling with the
ethical and legal problems of deaccessioning for some time.
Anyone who is interested in the subject should contact
Margaret Willard, the Registrar at the Des Moines Art Center,
who organized a full-day pre-conference workshop on
Deaccessioning in Fort Worth in 1993 and recently delivered
a paper on the topic at the Western Region Museum Association
meeting in Honolulu. Maggy can be reached by phone at 515 277-
4405 or fax at 515 279-3834 (sorry, no e-mail). Suzanne
did not mention it, but Pam Watson of her office gave a
dynamite paper about the practicalities of a deaccessioning
program at the Fort Worth workshop which should be standard
reading for any museum contemplating doing the same.
Janice Klein, Registrar, The Field Museum