From what you're implying the board and director think this is all perfectly
okay.

If I were the exhibit coordinator, I would loudly state my case and document
it. If they don't choose to listen, I suppose there's very little that
person can do except walk away from that place.

This is one of those things that's so unbelievably awful that it's hard to
say what you should do.  Since it looks like it may be a done deal, I would
say the museum needs a third, objective person to review the woman's
choices.  If in fact the material you are referring to is actually military
memorabilia, these collectibles are becoming more valuable each year.  Even
minor pieces have value today.  It is also an area of collecting (and I
speak from my experience only) where a lot of funny business goes on.

Candace Perry
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
in the other PA Dutch Country!
----- Original Message -----
From: Chuck Stout <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2000 10:21 AM
Subject: Another ethics question


> Suppose, hypothetically, that there was a director at a hypothetical
small,
> up-and-coming museum who had just hired a person to enter collections
> information into our, ahem, THEIR new PastPerfect database.
>
> Suppose that new person was being paid about two thirds the going rate for
> such a position, but that she had negotiated a deal into her contract that
> allows her to be paid with items from the museum's collection, in addition
> to her paycheck. For example, let's suppose she collects military
uniforms,
> and that the museum has many duplicates in its uniform collection.
>
> She negotiated this arrangement with the director, who has no museum
> background and no knowledge of collections management. There are no other
> paid staff in the collections/exhibits realm, but there is a half-time,
> volunteer Exhibits/Collections Manager with nominal responsibility. He has
> some museum background (mostly exhibits), and sees this as a blatant
> conflict of interest.
> He's expected to review and approve each item that the
data-entry/registrar
> would like to deaccession and take home, but doesn't have the detailed
> knowledge of uniforms that she has as a collector. Her contract doesn't
> specify any objective way of determining the value or exchange rate for
the
> uniforms. Essentially, she decides what is surplus in the collection,
> determines its value, etc.
>
> Now, the Exhibits/Collections Manager could conceivably research each item
> to determine its real value, but I, ahem, HE is already swamped with other
> urgent museum work, essentially performing a full-time job in 20 hours a
> week. (He still works full time elsewhere.) He's also appalled at the idea
> of paying the staff with items from the collection.
>
> I hear you all asking, where is the collections policy? Where are the
> professional standards? Don't they know that items in the collection are
to
> remain in the public trust?
>
> Well, the Exhibits/Collections Manager knows, and one of those urgent
tasks
> is the writing of a collections policy. But such policies have existed in
> the past, and have generally been ignored by the director and board.
(Their
> hearts are in the right place, but IMHO they tend to view all this formal
> museum crap as a hindrance to their agenda.)
>
> What should that hypothetical Exhibits/Collections Manager do, under the
> (purely hypothetical) circumstances? He's most interested in correcting
the
> problem, but at the very least would like to cover his hypothetical
> backside.
>
> Surely some of you have been in similar situations. What did you do? Sure,
> I'd love to hear success stories, but I'd like to hear about the pitfalls
> and failures, too. I need to know what NOT to do as well as what I should
> do.
>
> Thank you for your advice!
>
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