I would not accession items from the gift shop. They are not pieces made by
your institution, nor, in my view, are they representative of your
institution. A few select pieces that have special meaning (e.g. there were
only 10 of this sculpture made representing our founder/institution and 9
were given as awards to trustees; this was a limited edition pin
commemorating our 100th anniversary, etc.) would be appropriate as
ephemera, but you don't want every stuffed animal and t-shirt with your
logo on it. That will be a waste of space and resources.

Dawn

On Fri, Nov 2, 2018 at 10:33 AM Gregory Jackson <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> If it were me, and I were inclined to accession such things (which I'm
> not), I would accession photographs, not artifacts.  You have to decide WHY
> you are accessioning such things.  If it is important, why not accession
> all the metadata that goes with it? How much did it cost? Who made it? Who
> sold it?  How many did you buy?  I would consider accessioning gift store
> items as going down the rabbit hole. 😉
>
> Greg
>
> Glencairn Museum
> Bryn Athyn Historic Landmark District
> www.glencairnmuseum.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of
> Tracy Brindle
> Sent: Thursday, November 1, 2018 2:51 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Accessioning Gift Store Items
>
> Hello wise ones,
>
> In the past, we have accessioned items from our gift store, particularly
> if they contain our name and logo. When our gift store manager resigned,
> she left me with quite a few things that she thought I might want for the
> collection. Is this common practice? My predecessors accessioned quite a
> few stuffed Mark Twain dolls, coasters with our logo, an ashtray, pens,
> etc. I'm trying to decide where to draw the line. Or might this fall under
> the institutional collection? If so, should it still be formerly
> accessioned? I'm afraid that if we keep everything the store sells with our
> logo and Mark Twain's likeness, it will take over the collection and
> valuable storage space! Any guidance is much appreciated!
>
> Tracy
>
> Tracy Brindle
> Beatrice Fox Auerbach Chief Curator
> The Mark Twain House & Museum
> 351 Farmington Avenue
> Hartford, CT 06105
> 860-280-3122
>
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-- 
Dawn Roberts | Director of Collections
The Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
2430 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614 | www.naturemuseum.org

Collections Facility and Office
4001 N Ravenswood Avenue, suite 201, Chicago, IL 60613 | 773-755-5125

*The Urban Gateway to Nature and Science*

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