Dave Morgan hit on an element of online auction-itis that bothers me,
provenance.

We (Florida State Parks) have a stated policy that we may only consider
acquiring objects whose donors or sellers can prove ownership or assert
ownership in a signed document. We are part of a government whose obligations
include protection of archaeological sites and burial places, and which is
supposed to uphold the law, so we tend to stay away from hot property.

At the risk of seeming holier than thou, doesn't every museum or cultural
institution have such a written policy?

JOHN SCAFIDI
Florida State Parks
Tallahassee, FL
[log in to unmask]

=========================================================
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).