Hi, Allison.  As a Curator and a former MAP II reviewer, I was intrigued
by your posting.  There are many issues inherent in your seemingly
simple questions.  I would be pleased to discuss this with you further
off list.  Here are some basic questions to answer.

1)  When you "inherited" the building, did you do so by a will?  If so,
does the will specifically mention contents?  This is key to clearing
title to the objects - the first step before proceeding with the rest of
the steps.

2)  Just because you may have clear title to the objects doesn't mean
they are "accessioned".  They are not accessioned until you assign them
an accession number.  There is a difference between legally owning
something (i.e. having title to it) and accessioning it.

3) Depending on the answer to 1, yes, you may be able to...but would
like to know more about the whys and wherefore of your institutions
before answering unequivocally.  I am a proponent of deaccessioning,
under certain circumstances, so you will find a favorable ear.

Please do write...I love these good challenges!

Vivian Lea Stevens
Curator and Consultant
[log in to unmask]


Allison Weiss wrote:
>
> I am on the board of a small, volunteer-run historical society.  We are
> trying to finalize a collections policy.   The organization inherited a
> lot of objects with a building and I want to know how to address these
> objects in the collections policy.  Is it assumed that they are already
> "accessioned"?  Can we get rid of some of these things (there is a lot of
> junk) without actually deaccesssioning them?
>
> Any advice? Please respond soon!
>
> Allison Weiss
> Historic Takoma, Inc.
>
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