Hi,

I'm currently engaged in research pertaining to the disposition of
deaccessioned objects.  Specifically, is there (or has there been in the
recent past) any statistical analysis done to determine:

A.) what is/are the most common ways that American institutions dispose of
deaccessioned items (traditional auction, internet, private sale, transfer
to another institution, etc.);

B.) how often does this take place, on average; and

C.) how many objects are being deaccessioned each year.

I realize that the whole deaccessioning process/disposal of objects is
sometimes a rather touchy subject, but I also feel that the careful,
unbiased, well thought out culling of certain objects from an
organization's permanent collection, on a regular basis, is often a
positive step toward effective collections management.  Pro-active ethics
are a MUST, and certainly critical to any deaccession process, however.

With that said, I hope to start building a data base of any information
that I'm able to gather on this subject (especially quantitative
information) and would be happy to make it available to anyone who is
interested.

Thank you, in advance, for any assistance that you can provide.

Dan Perry

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