Perhaps objects curators in museum settings need to add to their 'bag of tricks' the appraisal step that archivists use to determine whether or not a document should be accessioned into the collection. I never hear this step mentioned in so many words, although most museums do have collection policies which should take care of the matter. Lucy Sperlin Skjelstad wrote: > > > I am reminded of my "Fourth Law of Museum Work": You can't save everything > > > > Not every piece of material culture can go into a museum or be preserved, > > and certainly not forever. Choices -- and often difficult ones -- need to > > be made about what is kept. And even once in museums choices need to be > > made about level of use ("total" preservation, exhibit, research, > > destructive analysis). And those choices may change over time: what was > > once common may become rare and need more preservation and less use. > > > > ....leading to my long held contention that decision makers in > historical museums need to be futurists as well as historians. > Projecting the ramification of current trends into the future, we can > have some sense of what of our own time is likely to be important to > those working 25 to 50 or more years after us. Having been lucky enough > to have worked at a museum with quite 'old' collections, many times I've > blessed (or occasionally cursed) the foresight of curators who were > working 20 - 60 years before me. Those working in newer museums may not > realize how quickly what they are working with will have that time > depth. > > Of course we can't be right on all the time, thus the need to perhaps > over save a bit at the front end, then weed regularly and routinely, but > oh so carefully, perhaps 20 - 25 years out. Of great frustration to me > are those who say, if our museum can't make use of it *now* we won't > take it. > > And, as an additional thought to the non-collecting museum thread, I > believe that non-collecting history museums impoverish themselves. Who > is taking responsibility for collecting the past of their area -anyone? > no one? Do history museums have at least some obligation to collect in > their area of mission, as part of a greater obligation to preservation > of the nations cultural heritage? Or has the 'me generation' come upon > museums as well as individuals? > > Isn't it wonderful how rather simple questions can evolve into > philosophical threads? > > Lucy Sperlin (formerly L. Skjelstad) > Chico, CA > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). 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).