I have never found it a workable policy that staff OR volunteers be prohibited
from collecting in the same subject areas as the museums in which they work.
Were this to be rigidly applied, we would have singularly few employees - and
not as many volunteers. I suspect this is true of many other museums. I believe
in having proper safeguards on the collection and having employees you can
trust.

The same is true of volunteers.

Fortunately, the military history/collecting community is relatively small and
the word gets around VERY quickly as to who can or cannot be trusted.

What is far more dangerous is to have curators and managers who are hand in
glove, not only with collectors, but with dealers. The wheeling and dealing
that results is invariably more costly to the museum than any other so-called
"partner".

Harry Needham
Canadian War Museum