Howdy, y'all:

We're trying to get a sense of how museums in the public trust arrive at
policies that permit public access to some or all of the collections
information accessible electronically. If you have a policy on public
access to collections information that you'd be willing to share, or if you
have behind-the-scenes information on the development of such policies,
please feel free to respond to me offline. Copies of policies would also
be useful (or directions to sites where policies have been posted for
reference).

I have a pretty good sense of the levels of information that are commonly
restricted (donor information, collecting locality, etc.) but would like to
know if anyone has had to deal with informal or formal legal challenges
to such restrictions (based on FOIA, etc.). If so, how did that turn out?

Have you had experience with an institutional policy that permitted freer
public access than the collections staff thought appropriate? (or, vice
versa, restricted access more than collections staff thought necessary?)
If so, how was this difference resolved?

If you host collections-based information sites for other groups
(professional societies, etc.), have you come across problems when
their access policies differed significantly from yours? If so, how was
that resolved?

Please note that this is not a question about physical public access to
collections (that comes later).....just about the electronic access to
information housed in a public trust institution. Any and all suggestions
for good resources will be gratefully received. Thanks for your time and
consideration.

Cheers,
Sally Shelton