It's definitely against the best practices for deaccessioning to
offer it to staff - what's to stop an unscrupulous curator from
deaccessioning desired pieces to supplement their own personal
collection if this is a standard practice at an institution?
If you offer it back to the donor, you just have to be sure you've
waited at least 2 years from when it was accessioned (IRS issues).
Most people I've talked to definitely prefer to find another
institution for exchange or transfer.
Angela
Angela J. Linn
Collections Manager, Ethnology & History
University of Alaska Museum of the North
907 Yukon Drive
P.O. Box 756960
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6960
TEL: (907) 474-1828
FAX: (907) 474-1987
www.uaf.edu/museum
On Apr 6, 2006, at 9:22 AM, Marielle Fortier wrote:
> Isn't it against museum ethics to give deaccession objects to staff
> members?
> I thought you 1. Find donor/heir to give it back to
> 2. find another institution that it could be of
> use
> 3. sell it on Ebay/auction or other venue
> 4.destroy it as a last resort.
>
>
> What are others thoughts?
>
> Marielle
>
>
>
> **********************
> Marielle Fortier
> Museum Registrar
> Norwich University Museum
> Northfield, Vermont
> **********************
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]>
>> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: documented disposal/deaccessioning
>> Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 18:48:56 EDT
>>
>>
>> In defense of 'dumpster diving'...may I suggest other alternatives to
>> putting these items in the dumpster to begin with? First offering
>> the item(s) to
>> staff members, bringing the items to the Salvation Army or the
>> Goodwill, are
>> among those I would suggest. There is also a Yahoo website and
>> others sites
>> where you can offer free recyclable items.
>>
>> One of the towns I lived in had a town-wide tag sale, followed by
>> curbside
>> pick up. I've salvaged great finds in both. Most of our town dumps
>> have
>> 'recycling sheds' too.
>>
>> Most of the frames for our panoramic photos in our museum are made
>> from
>> recycled tobacco shed boards.
>>
>> For all our dance recitals, my cousin's studio used 100% salvaged
>> materials
>> for our sets. Myself and other friends of mine have repaired/
>> reused 'trash'
>> in our artwork and home and garden decorations. It's amazing to
>> see unwanted
>> items brought back to life, etc.
>>
>> We really find it disturbing to come across items that have been
>> intentionally destroyed to the point of being unusable.
>>
>> The 3 barrister bookcases I had been given from one museum...one
>> set went to
>> another museum I volunteer for and the other two I've used at home
>> ever
>> since. Cheap pine and a dark stain...I'm still trying to decided
>> how I would like
>> to refinish them.
>>
>> As a non-profit organization, museum's retaining this status can
>> legally
>> serve as a charitable organization. If you're intentions/actions
>> are legal and
>> altruistic, you're organization will fare much better in the face
>> of criticism.
>>
>> Pam
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 4/4/2006 5:23:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>> [log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>> Hi Kate,
>> One thing you may need to consider is "dumpster diving." We are
>> in an
>> urban setting and have people going through our dumpster trash
>> pretty
>> regularly. If we approve of disposal of a deaccessioned object
>> through
>> destruction- we certainly don't want someone fishing it out of
>> the trash
>> for their own use. Nor would we want the publicity resulting
>> from some
>> citizen going to the media with an account of museum employees
>> throwing
>> out artifacts in the trash.
>> When we have been faced with this situation, we photographically
>> document
>> the object(s), break it into unusable pieces and personally haul
>> it to a
>> landfill that prohibits scavenging. We write an account of this
>> process
>> and file it in the deaccessioned object(s) accession file. Hope
>> this
>> helps.
>> Sincerely,
>> David Ryan
>> Registrar
>> Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
>> www.cspm.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
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