Stephanie,

You have the makings of an interesting paper!  Mark Janzen's earlier reply
was excellent. He touched on some of the difficult nuances of the problem.

I have been in museums where the rule of 'don't take if you can't properly
care for it' was strictly adhered to and often used as an excuse to refuse
something a curator didn't like very well personally.  And uncomfortably
often that was in a situation where the things they already had weren't
being cared for all that well.

So I'd like to add my voice to the school of thought that says "...it
depends".  Like so much else in museum work, to make good decisions about
accepting or not accepting an artifact based on ability to give care takes
knowledge of many different factors and the ability to apply them logically
and ethically to a situation. Exactly what kind of care does that particular
artifact need?  Will keeping it in a basically stable climate prevent
further deterioration, even if it isn't perfect?  (i.e. what is the nature
of the artifact in relation to the degree of need for perfection of climate
control and storage materials?)

There are many shades of gray here.  For instance, what level of care is or
is not acceptable can range from basically keeping the artifact out of the
rain to the other extreme of funding expensive conservation work. Perhaps
you can give it imperfect but reasonably good care.

Many artifacts may meet the mission of the institution, but beyond that
there are degrees of historic significance from low to high from local level
to State or even National level significance. Then, even if an item is high
on the significance scale, one would want to have an idea of how rare the
item being offered is.  Will another one be available later when you have
better ability to care for it?  Could one be borrowed from another
institution if needed for an exhibit?  If you refuse it can you help the
donor find another museum that wants it and can take better care of it or
will it be lost to the collector's market?  (Collectors often take better
care of artifacts, but remove them from their meaningful provenance, and
from public accessibility.)

If we are to meet our responsibility to be caretakers of the nation's
cultural heritage, we may sometimes have to say, "...what is better for this
artifact --we take it and care for it imperfectly or _____ " (whatever the
alternative is) and make that our bottom line.

It's a lot like the decisions our culture makes for the care of dependent
children.... are they better off in an imperfect family?, in a fairly good
adoptive family?, in foster care?.  There is no one answer, because the
circumstances are different in each case.  And, as with children, you may
only get one chance to get it right.

Blessings to all who love our cultural heritage and work so hard to care for
it well!!!

Lucy Sperlin
Butte County Historical Society
Oroville, California


________________________________

From: Museum discussion list on behalf of Stephanie Rohwer
Sent: Fri 12/8/2006 3:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Advice Needed



I am a graduate student at Tufts University and I'm working on my final
paper assignment for a class I'm taking.  The assignment requires me to ask
question and then use research to support an answer to that question.  My
question is:  "What course of action should a museum take if it is presented
with an object that meets its mission, but it is an object that the museum
can not properly care for."  I'm looking for any advice anyone can give me.
I know this situation has come up countless times, so if anyone is willing
to share their experiences, I would really appreciate your help.

Stephanie Rohwer

_________________________________________________________________



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