Addressing the last question first, we follow our common sense. In the last
decade we have lost through theft one rather generic Confederate soldier's
belt buckle, valued at $3,500, and a Savannah point, for which we had a
replacement. The same visitor managed to take both while his wife and
daughter kept the staff occupied. In this rural region, we simply don't
want any donors to our collection (and those who loan objects) to think our
exhibited objects are at risk. Since the stolen objects were not
one-of-a-kind, and we had equally good replacements, we decided only to
install TV surveillance as a preventive measure.
Inappropriate objects are difficult to deal with, but generally the
governing board has some role in making the decision(s). In our case, which
is quite common, we have a small committee of the board to approve
deaccessions. We have about 100 items that don't belong. To reduce
confusing the committee, we are in the process of presenting five objects at
a time, out of the 100, for their approval to deaccession. That is working.
Some of them are simply in such poor shape that they are trashed (e.g.,
saddles with extensive damage and rot). We will work with other museums and
a local antiques dealer on those objects of potential value elsewhere.
Ross Weeks Jr.
Tazewell VA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gloucester County Historical Society" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2000 3:13 PM
Subject: Creating a policy for my historical museum in the areas of
deacessioning procedures and reporting thefts.
> I am a museum director in southern New Jersey. The collecting focus
> of my site is the material culture of the Delaware Valley. I am
> wrestling with the creation of two policy statements. First, how and
> when inappropriate objects should be deacessioned from my museum.
> Secondly, if my museum is the victim of a theft, my Board is wondering
> who we should report the artifact theft to, or whether it would be in
> our site's best interests not to report thefts at all. Your response
> is appreciated - this is my first time using this service.
=========================================================
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