At 04:45 PM 4/2/2002, you wrote:
Currently
our policy regarding purchasing deaccessioned materials at auction
reads:
"No objects to be deaccessioned can be acquired privately by any
staff, volunteer, board member, or committee member of the Society unless
acquired by purchase at a public sale of such objects or through other
means of public disposal."
Is this
standard and ethical practice? It is my understanding that anyone
associated with an institution should not knowingly purchase
deaccessioned materials from that institution because it was a conflict
of interest.
Our deaccessioning policy currently reads:
No deaccessioned object may be acquired by any Commission employee,
volunteer, or trustee, or by their representatives.
In addition, the section on collecting by trustees, currently awaiting
final approval, reads:
Collection objects deaccessioned by the
Commission may not be acquired by or for any member of the board of
trustees. EXPLANATION: Although deaccessioned collections
may, under certain circumstances, be sold at a public sale, their
purchase by a trustee could lead to an inference that they were
deaccessioned as part of a deal to allow the trustee to acquire them,
contrary to the public trust of the Commission.
Anne