Hi, I'm currently engaged in research pertaining to the disposition of deaccessioned objects. Specifically, is there (or has there been in the recent past) any statistical analysis done to determine: A.) what is/are the most common ways that American institutions dispose of deaccessioned items (traditional auction, internet, private sale, transfer to another institution, etc.); B.) how often does this take place, on average; and C.) how many objects are being deaccessioned each year. I realize that the whole deaccessioning process/disposal of objects is sometimes a rather touchy subject, but I also feel that the careful, unbiased, well thought out culling of certain objects from an organization's permanent collection, on a regular basis, is often a positive step toward effective collections management. Pro-active ethics are a MUST, and certainly critical to any deaccession process, however. With that said, I hope to start building a data base of any information that I'm able to gather on this subject (especially quantitative information) and would be happy to make it available to anyone who is interested. Thank you, in advance, for any assistance that you can provide. Dan Perry ========================================================= 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).