Colleagues, Mark Ast wrote in response to Lorinda Gayle: >One way to avoid such a situation would be to have an effective agreement >applicable to all items left in the custody of the institution for >conservation or any other services or for possible loan. Such an agreement >might state not only what is being left off, and for what purpose, and for >how long; it might also include a release allowing the museum, after a given >period of time, to put the item into a specific commercial storage >facility, a hold-harmless clause, the cost of any storage, insurance etc >imputed to the party who left it behind, and interest on these charges. > >Do you think that this could be a frequent problem, and would it be >worthwhile to have one of the related professional organizations do a survey >or issue an advisory? I think if you asked for samples of loan agreement forms from various museums (there are some good books for this purpose, for example the Texas Association of Museums' *Forms Book*), you would find really good language to use with regard to abandoned property issues. However, I strongly advise that you first find out if your state/country has abandoned property laws since whatever language you use on a deposit agreement must reflect the law of the state/country in which your business resides. Suzanne Quigley Head Registrar, Collections and Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 212 423 3568 fax: 212 423 3650 email: [log in to unmask]