If your institution is chartered in New York State, it is governed by rules of the Board of Regents regarding deaccession of materials and use of any cash proceeds. If not Regents-chartered, the NY Attorney General enforces applicable state laws, which are not as strict as the Regents rules.
The Regents rule mandates the generally accepted museum practice that cash proceeds from disposal of collections must go back into collections, and under no cases be used for general operating procedures. (See "Rules of the Regents" on our web site, address below. Our sample Collections Management Policy is also on the web site.)
Some other comments:
(1) It sounds like your institution wants to sell collections for operating expenses.
(2) Selling the collection in the gift shop is generally a bad idea.
(3) Just because you haven't gotten around to accessioning an item doesn't mean it's not part of the collection.
(4) Deaccessioning should be based on the institution's Collection Management Policy.
(5) Curators should be consulted on every proposed deaccession.
(6) Deaccessioning should be done with care and consideration.
(7) The Board of Trustees should make the final decision.
(8) Contacting donors in advance of any sale or disposal is actually a good idea.
David
David W. Palmquist
Head, Chartering Program
NY State Museum
State Education Department
3090 Cultural Education Center
Albany NY 12230
518-473-3131
FAX 518-473-8496
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
web site: www.nysm.nysed.gov/charter/
>>> [log in to unmask] 11/09/01 09:18PM >>>
Dear list colleagues,
IGÇÖm the curator of the model collection in an air and space museum, and have
been asked by our vice president to go through our collection of unbuilt
model kits and select "the ones we donGÇÖt really need" so they can be sold in
the gift shop. Needless to say, this makes me very nervous. I have tried to
explain about the presumption of permanence of the collection, the need to
keep things in the public trust, the ramifications of selling items from the
collections in the gift shop, etc. but to no avail. (I guess I need to
mention that none of the upper management has any background in museum work,
and that this VP is also the development director and is under pressure to
raise money.)
My questions are these: Is it ethical? Is it legal? Have you faced similar
situations? I would appreciate any advice on how I can handle this
professionally, short of leaving the museum. My fear is that after the
unbuilt kits are sold, IGÇÖll be asked to cull the model collection. (Other
collections are being "thinned" as well, sometimes without any consultation
with curators.)
Other facts that may be relevant: Many of the model kits have no provenance,
they were just there when I took over the collection. Very few are formally
accessioned (but thatGÇÖs true of most of the artifacts in our museum!), and
none has any restriction that says we canGÇÖt sell it. Some of the kits are
rare and "collectible," we have duplicates of a few, and they are unlikely to
be assembled or exhibited in the future.
The VP has also suggested that in cases where we know who made the donation,
we can simply call and ask if they mind if we sell it. This fills me with
dread, too. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for your help.
Chuck Stout
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