>"A" objects can only be handled by collections
>staff--with gloves where appropriate--displayed and stored in
>environmentally correct conditions.  These objects are important to the
>museum and our constituents for any number of reasons; usually they
>are valuable or hard to replace.
>"B" objects are more readily replaceable, and may be handled by
>non-collections staff--with gloves--among our visitors.
>"C" objects comprise our educational handling collection, and may be
>handled by our visitors in supervised situtations.
>
>Robin Lipp
>Collections Manager
>The Children's Museum of Indianpolis
Robin.

I like your heirarchy of collection levels.  We're doing something similar
here.  I think the dilemma here is the use of objects in the "A" end of the
heirarchy.  The firearm in question clearly is a one of a kind object
because of it's association with a specific event and a donor of some
reputation.  In this case the object seems to fit in only the A category as
an object which is not replaceable nor could be classified as an
educational object.

Someone else mentioned the possibility of firing one of the guns from the
donor's personal collection.  While this solves the post-accession use
problem, there is still the liability issue.  The museum must make sure
that safety is not compromised.  Here, when we do live firing, we get a
person from the State Parks and Wildlife Dept. who is a state certified
firearms safety instructor to supervise the event.  That way we're covered,
and having someone in uniform present also legitimizes the event in the
eyes of the public.  It serves as an effective marketing tool, projecting a
positive and responsible public image.

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Henry B. Crawford                                       v
Curator of History                                       v
Museum of Texas Tech University               v
Box 43191                                                   v
Lubbock, TX  79409-3191                         v
806/742-2442                                          v
FAX 742-1136                                            v
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All opinions expressed are mine                   v
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