If it were me, and I were inclined to accession such things (which I'm not), I would accession photographs, not artifacts. You have to decide WHY you are accessioning such things. If it is important, why not accession all the metadata that goes with it? How much did it cost? Who made it? Who sold it? How many did you buy? I would consider accessioning gift store items as going down the rabbit hole. 😉 Greg Glencairn Museum Bryn Athyn Historic Landmark District www.glencairnmuseum.org -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Tracy Brindle Sent: Thursday, November 1, 2018 2:51 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Accessioning Gift Store Items Hello wise ones, In the past, we have accessioned items from our gift store, particularly if they contain our name and logo. When our gift store manager resigned, she left me with quite a few things that she thought I might want for the collection. Is this common practice? My predecessors accessioned quite a few stuffed Mark Twain dolls, coasters with our logo, an ashtray, pens, etc. I'm trying to decide where to draw the line. Or might this fall under the institutional collection? If so, should it still be formerly accessioned? I'm afraid that if we keep everything the store sells with our logo and Mark Twain's likeness, it will take over the collection and valuable storage space! Any guidance is much appreciated! Tracy Tracy Brindle Beatrice Fox Auerbach Chief Curator The Mark Twain House & Museum 351 Farmington Avenue Hartford, CT 06105 860-280-3122 ========================================================= 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).