Susan;

Your point is a good one.

We DO NOT accept donations with strings attached - of any kind - and the
temporary receipt we give the donor specifies that he/she is assigning ALL
rights associated with the donation to the museum, including the right to
dispose of it in an appropriate manner. We have a policy on disposals that
specifies when and how it can/must be done. I think such a policy is
essential to accountable management.

Harry Needham
Special Advisor - Programme Development
Canadian War Museum
330 Sussex Drive,
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0M8
Voice: (819) 776-8612  Fax (819) 776-8623
Email: [log in to unmask]

> ----------
> From:         Susan Noakes[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Museum discussion list
> Sent:         Thursday, March 11, 1999 11:15 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Unwanted stuff
>
> Your last line about contacting original donors first startled me. I was
> trained that once the gift is made to the museum, the original donor has
> no
> claim different than any other person (after the proper steps were taken
> to
> find another museum to own it or to use it somehow to benefit the museum
> who
> is de-accessioning). Therefore, final disposal of objects to the open
> market
> requires an original donor to bid like anyone else with the proceeds
> dedicated
> to the museum's collection conservation and development. Any experience
> out
> there on this question?
> Susan Noakes,
> Curator not looking forward to deaccessioning sometime in the near future.
>
> STUD Vincent Brooks wrote:
>
> >         I recently did an internship where my major project was a
> > deaccessioning one.  Well, lots of issues came up at this small
> historical
> > society.  The first came when a book was not within the collection
> scope,
> > but was worth a small sum of money.  That went on to higher powers and,
> to
> > my knowledge, is still unresolved.
> >         Another issue concerned the use of an online auction service to
> > get rid of unwanted materials.  I consulted a prof. and he said that
> while
> > auctions are not out of the question, careful attention has to be paid
> to
> > bidders, the auctioneers relationship to the institution, his or her
> fee,
> > etc.
> >         Actually, I began by sending a letter to other local historical
> > societies and transferred some materials that way.  After that, I posted
> a
> > message on this very discussion list and got quite a few responses.  I
> am
> > happy to say that many materials found new homes all across the country.
> >         Careful documentation is key.  Keep track of all correspondence
> > and conversations.  Regular reports to board or committee members are
> > important as well.  In my case, the original donor names were lost due
> to
> > poor records, but the original donor or heirs should be contacted first.
> >         Hope this helped.
> >
> >                                 Vince
> >
> > Vince Brooks
> > 239 S. Mathilda St. #2
> > Pittsburgh, PA  15224
> >
> > 412-661-0666
> >
> > "You can't spend what you ain't got, and you can't lose what you ain't
> > never had."
> >
> >                                                 - Muddy Waters
>