It's definitely against the best practices for deaccessioning to  
offer it to staff - what's to stop an unscrupulous curator from  
deaccessioning desired pieces to supplement their own personal  
collection if this is a standard practice at an institution?

If you offer it back to the donor, you just have to be sure you've  
waited at least 2 years from when it was accessioned (IRS issues).

Most people I've talked to definitely prefer to find another  
institution for exchange or transfer.

Angela

Angela J. Linn
Collections Manager, Ethnology & History
University of Alaska Museum of the North
907 Yukon Drive
P.O. Box 756960
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6960
TEL: (907) 474-1828
FAX: (907) 474-1987
www.uaf.edu/museum

On Apr 6, 2006, at 9:22 AM, Marielle Fortier wrote:

> Isn't it against museum ethics to give deaccession objects to staff  
> members?
> I thought you 1. Find donor/heir  to give it back to
>                     2. find another institution that it could be of  
> use
>                     3. sell it on Ebay/auction or other venue
>                     4.destroy it as a last resort.
>
>
> What are others thoughts?
>
> Marielle
>
>
>
> **********************
> Marielle Fortier
> Museum Registrar
> Norwich University Museum
> Northfield, Vermont
> **********************
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]>
>> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: documented disposal/deaccessioning
>> Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 18:48:56 EDT
>>
>>
>> In defense of 'dumpster diving'...may I suggest other alternatives to
>> putting these items in the dumpster to begin with? First offering  
>> the item(s) to
>> staff members, bringing the items to the Salvation Army or the  
>> Goodwill, are
>> among those I would suggest. There is also a Yahoo website and  
>> others sites
>> where you can offer free recyclable items.
>>
>> One of the towns I lived in had a town-wide tag sale, followed by  
>> curbside
>> pick up. I've salvaged great finds in both. Most of our town dumps  
>> have
>> 'recycling sheds' too.
>>
>> Most of the frames for our panoramic photos in our museum are made  
>> from
>> recycled tobacco shed boards.
>>
>> For all our dance recitals, my cousin's studio used 100% salvaged   
>> materials
>> for our sets. Myself and other friends of mine have repaired/ 
>> reused  'trash'
>> in our artwork and home and garden decorations. It's amazing to  
>> see  unwanted
>> items brought back to life, etc.
>>
>> We really find it disturbing to come across items that have been
>> intentionally destroyed  to the point of being  unusable.
>>
>> The 3 barrister bookcases I had been given from one museum...one  
>> set went  to
>> another museum I volunteer for and the other two I've used at home  
>> ever
>> since. Cheap pine and a dark stain...I'm still trying to decided  
>> how I would  like
>> to refinish them.
>>
>> As a non-profit organization, museum's retaining this status can  
>> legally
>> serve as a charitable organization. If you're intentions/actions  
>> are legal and
>> altruistic, you're organization will fare much better in the face  
>> of criticism.
>>
>> Pam
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 4/4/2006 5:23:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>> [log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>> Hi  Kate,
>> One thing you may need to consider is "dumpster diving."  We are   
>> in an
>> urban setting and have people going through our dumpster trash   
>> pretty
>> regularly.  If we approve of disposal of a deaccessioned  object  
>> through
>> destruction- we certainly don't want someone fishing it out  of  
>> the trash
>> for their own use.  Nor would we want the publicity  resulting  
>> from some
>> citizen going to the media with an account of museum  employees  
>> throwing
>> out artifacts in the trash.
>> When we have been faced  with this situation, we photographically  
>> document
>> the object(s), break it  into unusable pieces and personally haul  
>> it to a
>> landfill that prohibits  scavenging.  We write an account of this  
>> process
>> and file it in the  deaccessioned object(s) accession file.  Hope  
>> this
>> helps.
>> Sincerely,
>> David Ryan
>> Registrar
>> Colorado Springs  Pioneers Museum
>> www.cspm.org
>>
>>
>>
>>

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