Delaware County Historical Alliance wrote:
>
> I am also very interested in these issues.  We have sold (practically given)
> one of our museums to the local neighborhood association and are in the
> process of removing items.  We have many questions as to how to DeAccession,
> not to mention our obligations.  Specifically, how are others by-laws worded
> as to selling off DeAccessioned items.  Ours state..."to be sold at public
> auction."  Is this standard?  Have any of you had to go through this
> proceedure, and if so, how did the public react?

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to coordinate deaccessions for about
a year for the Winterthur Museum, and my experiences might address some
of your concerns. The whole issue of deaccessioning is complex and there
are numerous things to consider. The decision to deaccession should
always be made based on the appropriateness of the object for the
collection (mission of the museum, ability to properly care for the
object, condition of the object, authenticity and/or quality of the
object, whether the museum already has examples of the object which
would negate the usefulness of another, etc.). The decision should
always be made by a committee of staff and trustees/board members, in
order to insure that all concerns such as curatorial, collection
management, conservation, political, and the like are considered. Once
the decision to deaccession is made, it is very important that the
object is disposed of in a way which is totally above reproach
ethically. It is quite typical for deacessioned objects to be auctioned
out of state or at least out of the region, and that they be auctioned
anonymously. This way, there can be no accusation that the object was
deaccessioned for the purpose of allowing any certain individual to
acquire it (thereby violating the museum's public trust). Museum ethics
policies often state that staff members, board members/trustees, and
volunteers cannot knowingly acquire objects deaccessioned by their
institution. Finally, all funds realized from the sale of deaccessioned
objects must always be used to develop of maintain museum
collections--never for operating budgets or non-collection uses.

Of course there are numerous other issues which I have not addressed
here: whether or not to offer deaccessioned objects to the donors or
donor families (or to notify them of the auction); the public perception
of ANY museum deaccessioning ANY object and how to avoid a public
relations nightmare; destroying deaccessioned objects which have no sale
value; deaccessioning objects so that objects can be used in hands-on
programs; and the issue of disposing of deaccessioned objects to another
museum, either through sale, trade, or gift.

--------
Wade Lawrence                       |   407-897-6350 (voice)
Historic Presrvation Officer        |
Orange County Historical Museum     |   407-897-6409 (fax)
812 E. Rollins St.                  |
Orlando, FL 32803                   |   [log in to unmask]
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