My perspective is not from a small history museum, but I view a Collections Policy as a set of guideline the museum (or a segment of the museum)follows in regards to the aquisition of new material. Such a policy might limit the scope of new objects to be acquired, set standards for the condition of any new object to be acquired. A Collections Management Policy should be a guide to the procedures and practices a museum or a unit of the museum follows to care for the objects or specimens in their collections. In many cases the two policies probably get merged into one document, but I feel the two topics are distinct entities. They are however closely related and not conflict with each other. James Dean Division of Birds National Museum of Natural History [log in to unmask]