You ask if the situation you describe has happened elsewhere, and the
answer is, unfortunately, yes.  A few years ago I attended a meeting of
the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries (ACUMG)
at College Park, Maryland, where a colleague described a similar
dismantling of a museum at her university, Illinois State at Normal.  I
am going by memory on this, so I hope I have the details right. But
anyway, as I recall, the collections were
dispersed to various academic departments.  (Having spent a lot of time
over the past several years dealing with the erratic records of a collection
that was an ad hoc
function of an academic department for decades, that's a really depressing
thought.)  And her museum itself was
over 100 years old, and I think she said it had been the oldest museum
operating in Illinois.

The leadership of ACUMG are very interested in this issue and you might
want to contact them.

--Helen Glazer
Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
[log in to unmask]


On Mon, 20 Nov 1995, Joe Nagel wrote:

> Dear Colleagues -
>
> As a new member of this list, I hope I am not covering old ground, but I'd
> like to instigate some discussion on a matter which has concerned me for
> some years, and is particularly on my mind at the moment, for reasons I will
> relate.  I will keep this as short as I can, but some background is
> necessary to make the point.
>
> I was for over twenty years, until recently, a Director/Curator of a small
> university museum which was fully administered through an academic science
> department.  I was the only paid museum staff.  The facility included 5,000
> feet of exhibits, an active retail operation (up to $150,000 per annum) and
> a membership programme and newsletter.  The collection is nationally
> significant and has been successfully managed electronically since 1975, one
> of the first such applications to my knowledge.  The museum (had) an annual
> attendance of about about 25,000.
>
> Recently, as a result of general financial cutbacks, the curatorial position
> was eliminated.  Fortunately, I have for some years been designing and
> installing curator-driven database systems in a variety of museums large and
> small.   I am now quite contentedly pursuing that activity on a full-time
> basis internationally. In addition to my consulting activities, I am
> currently a Research Associate at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.
>
> What particularly concerns me is how the decision I describe was made, and
> what it may mean to the collection I leave behind.  Some aspects of the
> decision process:
>
> 1. There was no consultation
> 2. Creative alternatives were not explored
> 3. There was no cost-benefit analysis done
> 4. No plans were made for the collection and programmes.  A month after my
> departure, nothing has yet been done.
>
> In short, the museum, one of the oldest in the region, was summarily and
> dismissively eliminated.  My curatorial position was the last of five
> full-time curatorial positions once in place in the Faculty of Science at my
> university.
>
> Issues for which I'd appreciate some feedback::
>
> 1.  Is this situation and process duplicated at other universities?
>
> 2.  What does "public trust" mean in a university setting?
>
> 3.  Universities hold extremely important and varied collections, many in
> the sciences.  When these are orphaned (no curator), they may become
> inaccessible, or for some types of collections, even be plundered and
> destroyed.  How can the museum profession act to mitigate such circumstances?
>
> I am considering authoring an article on these issues and appreciate any
> comments.
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Joe Nagel (KUSTOS Inc.)
> 2961 Semiahmoo Trail
> Surrey, B.C.  V4P 1H4
> 604-531-6879, 604-594-2628 (FAX)
>