It is not necessarily a simple answer. At my first museum job, the staff in the 1950s had been told to accession everything, and they did. I had a record for the contents of the paint cabinet in the woodshop.
So it depends on what the objects are and how they fit in with your museum. If they are clearly modern objects purchased for use in the office, then by all means deaccession them. If they are historic pieces, then it is better to stop using them while you do research to determine if they are appropriate objects for the collection or not. If they belong in the collection, it is best to stop using them and get replacements. I am not a big fan of the middle option…using collections objects puts them at risk. Either the objects deserve a high standard of care, or they should be removed from the collection.
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emily Apple
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 5:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Accessioned item has been used in museum (desk), how to proceed?
Hello all,
I have just become the new director of a small rural museum. We have found a couple of things - a desk and a church pew - which have been used by volunteers (the desk is our geneaologist's desk) and were just discovered to have been accessioned artifacts. The team just noticed in moving things around that these pieces had accession numbers, and thus are parts of our collection. So, I am wondering how to proceed; should we...
Maintain the accessioned status and stop using the items?
Maintain the accessioned status and continue using the items, perhaps with plexi covering the desk top, etc. or archival fabris covering the church pew?
De-accession the desk and pew to be used in the museum?
This is a tough one, and as an emerging professional, I have not run into this issue yet. Thank you for your suggestions,
--
Emily M. Apple
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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill
"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance." Bruce Barton
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