Amanda,

Another avenue to consider is whether museums are disposing of items over eBay or online auction sites.  Another museum was interested in a small collection we are trying to deaccession that no longer fits our scope and when this museum declined our artifacts, they suggested
selling them on eBay, saying we could get a nice price for them.  So I'm curious whether other museums are deaccessioning on eBay or not.

(In case anyone is curious, we did not feel we could ethically sell them on eBay and they are still in our collection.)

Kara J. Hurst
Registration Intern
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History



Amanda Kraus wrote:

> Dear Colleagues:
>
> I am interested to know whether museum staff are using eBay or similar
> online auction sites to acquire objects for their collections. I'd like to
> hear museum professionals'  thoughts about these sites. I have listed a few
> specific questions below, but I welcome all comments relevant to the topic
> of how the Internet is affecting object acquisition in museums.
>
> Questions
>
> 1) Are museums/historical societies purchasing through eBay and other
> auction sites? Why or why not?
>
> 2) If so, are museum staff finding material they might otherwise never see?
>
> 3) Are online auctions curbing donations from individuals to museums? Do
> curators fear that objects will leave the public domain because private
> collectors are buying them online?
>
> I appreciate your input.
>
> --Amanda Kraus
> Publications Department,
> American Association of Museums
>
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Kara J. Hurst
Registration Intern
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
2401 Chautauqua
Norman, OK   73072

405-325-5481 (telephone)
405-325-7699 (fax)

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If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).