A good point.  Maybe ‘in working condition’, though, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are used on a frequent basis?

 

 

 

There are some classes of objects—such as musical instruments and machinery—that a museum might want to maintain in working condition, even if they are in the permanent collection. In order to do this, they have to be (carefully) “used” and maintained from time to time. How much is a Stradivarius worth if it’s deteriorated to the point that it’s not playable?

 

 

Sharon,

I still think it’s better to not accession to the regular collection things that will be used. If, at some time in the future, a ‘support’ collection item is taken out of use and still has value in the permanent collection, it can be moved out of ‘support collection’ and into permanent collection.

 

However, I do think this is a question worthy of discussion, because I suspect many local museums and historic houses struggle with variations on the theme.

 

I use the mission to differentiate between what we can allow use of and what we keep in the ‘support’ collection.  Items that clearly need to be protected as part of the history of our county aren’t used.  However, the slope can be slippery because we have a historic house which uses mostly non-collection items as furnishings because it is sometimes rented and a lot of our programmatic activities take place there.  There are some donors from major families in the community who bring in things that they expect us to use in the house, because they don’t themselves value those items as part of the community’s history.. 

 

So, even though we don’t use things from the permanent collections (and mostly we don’t), donors and other volunteers keep saying ‘but I (they) want it to be used’.  The current issue is a quite special wedding dress that I *really* want to take off display due to over-exposure to daylight,  but the donor has reiterated once again her wish that it be seen and “enjoyed”.  And, because it was never actually accessioned in an earlier period in which things that came to the historic house weren’t processed as they should have been it is in a gray area.  Usually I can get donors to understand the need for long term preservation, but in this case the volunteer who is in charge of the house is the one who communicates with her.

 

I’m considering creating some sort of a form letter or other document that I would ask the donor to sign, to acknowledge that they do not wish the item to be preserved according to museum standards.  From earlier experience at another museum, I’m concerned with protecting our reputation at the time in the future when descending generations arrive on the scene (sometimes decades later) and become upset that their family things are not in as preserved a condition as they expected.  Has anyone ever done something like that?

 

Lucy Sperlin

Butte County Historical Society

Oroville, California

 

 

 

 

Hello All,

 

Do any of your collections policies include a category for accessioned artifacts that receive regular use? This is different from a hands-on or educational-use category, in which the objects are understood to be eventually expendable. This category would include things that will be preserved but for practical reasons must also be used.

Our museum has some large accessioned pieces that are considered permanent collection, but are used in the galleries either by staff or visitors. One example is a clock, another is a piano. We’ve just acquired a large dining table that would also fall into this category if we decide to accession it into the permanent collection.

As we update our collections policy we want it to reflect the reality of how these things are used, and include a category that recognizes this “gray area” between permanent-collection-preservation and hands-on-use. I’d be grateful to know how other policies have addressed this.

 

With thanks,

 

Sharon Clothier

Curator of Decorative Arts

Oshkosh Public Museum

(920) 236-5776

www.oshkoshmuseum.org

 

 

 

 

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