Dear Allison:

I would suggest you write your collection policy to reflect the mission of
the organization rather than tailor it to fit the stuff you own.  Once that
is done, you may have a better sense of what you want to keep and what you
wish to remove.  Technically, if something has not been accessioned it can
not be deaccessioned and you may do with it as you wish.  However,
recognizing potential community sensitivities may necessitate a careful
approach to the task.  Is it possible to find out where most of the items
came from?  Are there major, or minor, donors still alive and being
watchful?  If you are able to remove items you will have to decide if a
public or private approach is best.  In other words, should you tell the
community or just proceed quietly, but legally and within your policies, to
remove items.  If you choose the latter course, removal may best be done in
a more geographically distant local.  You do not need to but it may be
advisable to retain a record of what you have removed.

How much time do you have?  Is there a rush to deal with the matter?  Can
you hold onto everything and wait until your policies are in place and then
incrementally remove items?  Or, would it be best to remove them all at
once?  These questions may be questions of resources more than time.
Incidentally, are there other museums in the area (or elsewhere) that might
be interested in the items you will presumably wish to remove?  A gift or
other form of donation or transfer by benefit everyone.

----------
> From: Allison Weiss <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: HELP: collections policy
> Date: Monday, November 09, 1998 9:20 PM
>
> I am on the board of a small, volunteer-run historical society.  We are
> trying to finalize a collections policy.   The organization inherited a
> lot of objects with a building and I want to know how to address these
> objects in the collections policy.  Is it assumed that they are already
> "accessioned"?  Can we get rid of some of these things (there is a lot of
> junk) without actually deaccesssioning them?
>
> Any advice? Please respond soon!
>
> Allison Weiss
> Historic Takoma, Inc.
>
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