Megan Springate inquires about using on-line auctions to dispose of
materials which an institution decides to deaccession. Please understand
that my field is preservation, not specifically museums, so I offer
these comments more from the perspective of the public than from the
vantage point of the profession.

It has always been my impression that museums would first offer such
materials to other institutions whose collecting policies were more
in-line with the object being deaccessioned. Only after exhausting other
museums and similar agencies would a museum offer items on the open
market.  I'm not sure from the phrasing of the original question if the
on-line auction is a venue after no other museum wants the object, or if
it is a first choice of disposal.

In the case of the latter, I would think that it presents some pretty
serious ethical issues. Without determining that there are no other
"public" repositories wanting the object, it seems that the driving
force for deaccessioning would be money.

In the case of the former approach it seems that other, but still
significant, ethical issues are raised. I have seen (and reported to the
FBI) materials offered on-line that appear to be illegally acquired. I
wonder if museums ought not to avoid such auction houses in lieu of more
traditional approaches (at least for the time being), even if the
resulting funds generated are less.

In other words, shouldn't museums, as guardians of cultural resources
and heritage, have a higher responsibility? I think that the public
might be dismayed to discover museum objects going on the auction block
under some of these circumstances.

Best,

Michael Trinkley, Ph.D.
Director
Chicora Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 8664
Columbia, SC  29202
803/787-6910
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