In a message dated 02-03-25 12:26:57 EST, Carol Reid wrote: << Basically if you collect cameras and want to work in a Camera Museum, you have to forgo the personal collecting of material relating to your museum. A lot of specialized knowledge in museums comes from having been collectors, but you should give up the personal collecting of material that when you enter the employment of a museum. (now if you collect dino bones and work in a camera museum, no conflict!) >> But what if you work in a large museum which collects in many fields? If carried to its logical conclusion, that dictum would imply that an employee of such a museum couldn't own anything of "museum quality". My museum collects contemporary clothing and artifacts of popular culture: would a "collecting" prohibition mean I couldn't buy a new suit or a movie poster? I'm going to repeat what I wrote the last time this issue arose on this list, probably a couple of years ago. I don't think personal collecting in your professional field (or in other areas in which your museum collects) necessarily represents a conflict of interest at all--as long as your collecting doesn't interfere with your institution's ability to collect--e.g., acquiring for yourself things that the museum wants or should have. It's certainly unethical to actually compete with your institution for the same objects. You might purchase a choice item for yourself, for example, without giving your museum the opportunity to acquire it. That's a no-no. And certainly if you accept as a personal gift an item which could have been donated to the museum instead, that's worse. But I see no problem in purchasing an item which your museum has specifically declined. For example, a dealer once left a group of low-priced items on approval with the museum. I made an initial selection and my boss, in a second round, made his final choices, about half of my group. I purchased for myself one of the items he rejected. He knew that and saw no problem with it. I may very well bequeath that item to the museum eventually. Or if the museum eventually decides to purchase it after all, I might sell it at the same price I paid (rather than the current market value, which is now far greater than the original price). I don't see any conflict there. On another occasion my boss bought an expensive group of items, for which the museum did not have adequate purchase funds (in any event, our department chairman would not approve the purchase). He owned and held the item for several years until he found a donor who repaid him the original purchase price; the items then were recorded as a gift from that donor to the museum. If my boss had not had the ability to collect personally, the museum would not have had the opportunity to acquire the material at all because some other collector or museum would probably have snapped it up. Having the ability to purchase material for a curator's "personal" collection, especially when timing is important, therefore can actually enhance the museum's collecting power in the long run. This can be something of a gamble because the collections committee can always reject the curator's "find", and in such situations the employee should be commended for taking the risk. A non-competitive clause is important, but this should not mean that the museum employee has to forego personal collecting entirely. It would be logical to file a periodic report with your institution about your personal acquisitions to guard against any hanky-panky or unethical dealings, or the appearance thereof. I think your museum has a right to require full disclosure on this issue, but not a broad prohibition against personal collecting. The higher the value of a personal collection, of course, the greater is the need for disclosure. David Haberstich ========================================================= 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).