I think that one of the issues that is lost in this particular case is that
the original poster stated that the material had been given to several other
institutions as well, and additionally had questionable factual. 

 

The original institution in question obviously had their sound reasons for
de-accessioning this item. In our collections policy, we clearly state that
the steps before we move to "witnessed destruction", and those include
attempting to find another home for the item in question. 

 

The trained, professional museum staff of this organization obviously took
all of the information they had about the item, (including the dubious
information and the fact that it was duplicated in other holdings) and
decided to dispose of it. The volunteer donating it to the new organization
might not have conveyed all the information, and that would have been a
problem.

 

I do not think the original poster wanted to call into question their
de-accessioning process, simply what to do with a volunteer that had clearly
over-stepped their boundaries.

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