John raises an interesting question.

The museum from whence I retired in January required ALL employees to
declare any potential conflicts of interest, as these arose. Acting as a
consultant to another institution has the potential to be viewed as a
conflict and it is a situation I have been in prior to retirement.

John is quite right in saying that it is a pity to waste someone's knowledge
when another institution can use it. The question is how to do it? There are
a few possibilities.

First, the individual's home museum can sell his/her services - rent out the
employee, as it were. This is clearly not a conflict, but there isn't much
professional courtesy shown to the other institution in doing it, either.

Second, the individual can take leave of absence to assist the other
institution - and be compensated by the client institution for doing so.
Most of the consulting done while I was an employee of a museum was done in
this way. What the individual does on his/her own time is his/her business,
provided he/she does not use his/her special knowledge to the detriment in
any way of his/her "home museum. My, being gender neutral makes for awkward
sentences!!!

Third, the home museum can loan the staff member to the client museum. I
have sometimes done this, with the client museum picking up travel expenses.
On one occasion, the client museum insisted on my taking an honorarium,
which I donated to the home museum through its friends organization.

It is very important to be up front with the employer on these sorts of
things and undertake the work only if and as the employer agrees. Further,
the work to be done must not be to the detriment in any way of the home
museum or offer an inappropriate benefit to the client museum (e.g.,
providing special information to inappropriately assist the client in
deriving a benefit, such as a grant, from the home museum). Sometimes, this
can be a difficult call and museums ought to have some form of conflict of
interest review mechanism to examine the case and decide on the appropriate
course of action.

Harry

"Those who play with cats must expect to get scratched"

               -  Cervantes, "Don Quixote"

Harry Needham, M.A., CFE, etc.
President
Harry Needham Consulting Services Inc.
Training & consulting services for heritage institutions - and others!
74 Abbeyhill Drive
Kanata, Ontario K2L 1H1
Canada
email: [log in to unmask]
(Voice) +1.613.831-1068
(Fax) +1.613.831-9412
----- Original Message -----
From: John Martinson <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2000 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: Ethical question


> Another related question . . . what about a staff member doing consulting
on
> the side?  One could say why not use the experience to help others.
>
> Best, John Martinson
> Curator of Collections
>
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