Based on your description, the photographs are not part of your collection.
A scan of the photograph is a reproduction. Does your organization receive and accession reproductions? I would agree with both of you. It is a nice service to give online viewers the ability to see them; especially if the images are relevant, but probably not part of your collection. Can you create a special set of numbers for this type of material in your database? Maybe call it 'reference' and relate it to artifacts you do have? Or set up another website and link to it to yours, so people who are interested will have access, but you are not going down a rabbit hole by setting a precedent.
A few top of mind thoughts....

Elizabeth Clarke, PhD
Morrill Mt Consulting

From: Sarah Griswold <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, December 17, 2010 12:37:11 PM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Cataloging Scanned photographs

I am wondering what the general wisdom is regarding the cataloging of scanned photographs, when the original photographs remain in a private person's possession. If they allow us to scan them and then use the scans as we choose, should we consider the scans part of our photograph collection, and add them to Past Perfect? For us they exist ONLY in digital format.

The curator would like to add them to the collection so that online viewers can see the images, but I'm not sure that they should be accorded status equivalent to actual artifacts.

We don't have any specific wording in our collection policy that addresses the issue of copies vs. originals, and in the case of photographs, it's a very thorny issue anyway.

Thanks for any comments

Sarah Griswold

Curatorial Consultant

Curatorial Assistant, Gunn Memorial Museum, Washington, CT

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