I'd like to thank those listmembers who responded to my initial inquiry, both on and off the list, regarding the storage of personal property in museums.  Not that I want to expand the discussion further, but some of the replies,  as well as other materials that I have consulted, raise questions regarding the personal acquisition and use of books by museum curators and other staff members.  (Again, though I'm referring here primarily to museums, I'd be interested in how libraries and/or archives handle this.)

Under codes of ethics that have been prepared by organizations such as AAM, ICOM, the Society of American Archivists, and the National Park Service, potential conflicts of interest exist or may arise when curators (or those who hold comparable positions in libraries and archives) collect in the same field(s) in which their institution collects.  AAM's Curator's Code of Ethics, for example, states that curators "must never compete with their museum for an object"; that they must "give their institutions first option to acquire an object that they have purchased for themselves, at the same price, before adding it to their personal collection"; and "should not store personal collections on museum property or do research on or have their personal collections conserved on museum time without the permission of the institution."  

Regarding the question of books that individuals who are staff members own and/or acquire, there are other possibilities for conflicts of interest.  As is noted by the Collections Management Manual of the MIT Museum, "the acquiring, collecting and owning of objects by Museum staff . . . is not in itself unethical, and can enhance professional knowlege."  At the same time, however, as the Manual adds, the "maintenance and management of a personal collection by a Museum staff member can create a conflict of interest," again with respect to possible competition with the Museum's own collecting areas.  Similarly, the Association of College and Research Libraries' "Standards for Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Librarians" state that "Extreme care is required whenever a librarian collects items similar to those being acquired by the institution and some institutions will choose to restrict or prohibit personal collecting."

Feeling like I'm trying to navigate the proverbial straits between Scylla and Charybdis--or, if you prefer, between feeling like Pollyanna on the one hand and Cassandra on the other--I'm trying to find the "middle ground" here.  Like people who replied to my initial inquiry and the many others like them who didn't, I've got reference books that I keep on hand in my own office so that I can consult them when I need to.  As a historian by training, I've also accumulated an extensive collection of books over the past 25 years; virtually all of these stay at home, and I only bring a book in to the office if I plan or need to use it.  I also agree, as some respondents stated, that having books available like this can enhance productiivity, particularly in terms of staff time that might otherwise be spent leaving the office to visit the library, be it in the museum or off-site.  (Having spent many long hours at the Library of Congress or other institutions waiting to get books that turn out to be checked out or otherwise "lost," I can really appreciate the argument for having books at hand to maintain productivity!)

But where do museums draw the line between one's personal "ready-reference" collection and an institution's own research collections?  Should museum professionals only purchase or acquire a book for themselves when their own institution can't or won't do so itself?  Do books that museum professionals acquire in the normal course of their duties become, de facto or de jure, the property of the museum, if the museum does not already possess that book as part of its own collection?  Should museum staff members be asked to prepare and maintain a list of all the personal books in their offices?  What steps can museums and museum staff take to avoid falling into ethical conduct pitfalls that relate to book collecting?

Once again, I appreciate both the responses that I've received and the lively discussion that's ensued.

Collegially,

John Rumm

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