First of all, IF you have a collections policy, that should guide your decision (does it allow for "use" of collection objects, does it allow repair or restoration, etc.) As a new director of a small rural museum, you may not have a collection policy yet. With no policy to giude you, I would propose this question... If those items came through your doors *today*, would you accept them into the collection or not? If not, that is a strong indication that they could be deaccessioned and used. If so, most likely they should not be used and rather be preserved. I have been in this situation many times, and like others have stated, I have seen many things accessioned that never should have been (such as a three ring binder used to hold board meeting notes). This will not be the last time you have to make this after-the-fact determination. On 4/19/12, Emily Apple <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 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 > [log in to unmask] > [log in to unmask] > > *"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*** > > ========================================================= > 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). 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).