Christa,
The trouble with putting back your photo repro money into collections care 
is that sooner or later you (along with the director, board members, finance 
committee members) begin depending upon that photo repro revenue to fund 
collections care. The two become hopelessly intertwined, creating the 
impression that collections should pay for themselves. If only we're clever 
and enterprising! Nothing wrong with being entrepreneurial, but I'd argue 
that collections care costs should be thought of in terms of an 
institution's operating budget, as well as its long range development plan.

To even talk about 'investing' money from one revenue source--and aren't we 
talking about gross profits while not accounting for overhead?--into another 
museum program is to walk down that slippery slope leading to resentment and 
misunderstanding over how an institution allocates its resources. And why it 
exists.

At least that was my experience when I ran a photo service and curated a 
large prints & photographs collection.

Dean

Dean Krimmel, Museum Consultant
Planning Exhibits, Programs & Interpretation for Museums, Historic Sites, 
Visitor Centers and Cultural Organizations
423 Range Road  Baltimore, Maryland 21204
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Affiliated with Qm2: Quality Management to a Higher Power (www.qm2.org)
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christa McCay" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 12:28 PM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Photograph Repro Policy


> My question is should the money made from photo repros go back into 
> taking care of the photographic collection or can it go back into the 
> general museum budget.
> Thanks so much,
>
> Christa McCay
> Registrar
> Marietta Museum of History
> www.mariettahistory.org
>
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