We did not accession all the records we only accessioned the ones from our collecting years. When the records came in we realized that the majority of them would not be within our collecting scope and we explained to the donor that we only wanted to keep certain ones. We asked if they would like to have the others back, and they said no. At that point we asked them to sign a Permission to Dispose form that allows us to dispose of them they best way we can. First on the list is to give to another institution that could use them, last is to throw away. I don't want to actually put them in the dumpster. I would like for someone who could use them to get them. I don't want it to look like to the public (and the staff) that we can just hand out stuff we don't want. But the pressure from my co-workers is to "toss them" and just let it go from there (which really means I will be seeing their hind ends sticking out of the dumpster at 5:02pm). That's a slippery slope. I am hoping to find an organization like Bethel Woods or someone mentioned a local radio station to take them. (Good idea!) I had considered something like a vinyl shop, and some may end up there rather than the dumpster. Toni PS Gayle, I myself was named after the great Ms. Tanille and that copy of Muskrat Love is very tempting... -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cindy Boyer Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:50 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Vinyl Records...unwanted That makes me wonder - DID you actually accession all of the records? We have a form where donors may make a gift of an object, to support the financial goals of our organization. In other words, donated for the purpose of selling the object as a revenue source. It doesn't happen very often, but usually in a similar situation to yours - when a donor has one item that is appropriate for our collections and it is accessioned, and other items are donated as a revenue source. Cindy Boyer Director of Museums and Education The Landmark Society of Western New York 133 S. Fitzhugh St. Rochester NY 14608 (585) 546-7029 ext. 12 [log in to unmask] The Landmark Society: Revitalizing Yesterday, Protecting Today, and Planning for Tomorrow www.landmarksociety.org Confessions of a Preservationist: The Landmark Society blog Facebook / MySpace -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tracie Evans Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 9:17 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Vinyl Records...unwanted Just a note...these items should not have been accessioned and are not part of your collections or deaccessioned items. If the donor knew you would sort them from the start, you only needed to accession the part of the gift you wanted. The unwanted part is museum property (rather than collections) and the rules on disposing property are not the same as that of collections. Does your organization have a policy on disposing of property? How would you deal with old computers, excessive office equipment, etc? That should be your guideline on disposal. Tracie Evans Curator of Collections Sauder Village 22611 St. Rt. 2 Archbold OH 43502 Phone: 419/446-2541 FAX: 419/445-5251 -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Zickuhr, Kristine Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 9:10 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Vinyl Records...unwanted If you're a government agency there are probably very specific guidelines. Our state surplus laws allow us to give certain items to charity, but it has to be "competitive", meaning we can't single out a specific organization. You also have to be careful about supporting a religious non-profit if you're governmental. We're prohibited from donating to individuals, so we wouldn't be allowed to post them on Freecycle or give them to staff. Kris Zickuhr Wisconsin Veterans Museum -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Audra Oliver Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:15 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Vinyl Records...unwanted A charity shop would be an option - probably a cleaner option. >>> [log in to unmask] 4/29/2009 3:39 PM >>> Why not set up a "recycle station" - a designated area where items that will eventually end up in the trash are placed, and if folks can "recycle" them before they go out to the dumpster they don't have to check in with you first. We do this with books (not collections, just books from home) and any book that does not get adopted by a staff person gets donated to a library. Cindy Boyer Director of Museums and Education The Landmark Society of Western New York 133 S. Fitzhugh St. Rochester NY 14608 (585) 546-7029 ext. 12 [log in to unmask] The Landmark Society: Revitalizing Yesterday, Protecting Today, and Planning for Tomorrow www.landmarksociety.org Confessions of a Preservationist: The Landmark Society blog Facebook / MySpace -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Toni Kiser Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:27 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Vinyl Records...unwanted Our institution recently received about 200 vinyl records that range in date from the 1930s-1980s. When we agreed to take the records from our collecting era (1930s-1940s) the donor gave us permission to dispose of anything that we didn't want. They signed a permission to dispose form that lists all the ways we can get rid of them (give to another institution, sell, throw away, etc.). Most of the records that we are not keeping for the collection are not in great shape and I don't think that they would sell well on ebay (at least not well enough to justify all the time and effort we would have to put into it). So we would like to just throw them away...but here is our dilemma, word of these vintage records got out among the staff and people have been asking if they can have certain records (The Captain and Taneal anyone?) We do intend to toss them, but I don't want to just hand them out to employees that ask for them. I also hate to put this much stuff in the trash that someone may want and use. Should I throw them out and just let people dumpster dive? Any thoughts on an easy way to rid ourselves of them without getting caught in an ethical nightmare? Anyone want 100 or so vinyl records from the 60s, 70s, and 80s (for your institution of course)? Thanks for you thoughts, Toni ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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] . 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Thank you for your assistance. ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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). 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