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Re: Why originals should never leave the premises



Wow, I think I've heard that story too.  Jeez, no jury in the world would
convicted the owner if he had terminated the offending party "with extreme
prejudice."

Regards,

Mark D. Jaeger
Purdue University Libraries
Special Collections

On Thu, 29 Jun 2000, Jacobs, Laura wrote:

> Robert,
>
> Sorry to hear of your problem.
>
> It reminds me of the person who was foolish enough to lend his (personal)
> collection of photographs of jazz musicians with whom he had had the
> pleasure to play. The photos were signed, one-of-a-kind pics rather than
> stock publicity shots, and documented many of the finest musicians in the
> world.
>
> The borrower cut the faces out and built a collage for a display. The photos
> were, unfortunately, irreplacable, the collection destroyed. The borrower
> never did understand why the lender was so upset.
>
> Even knowing such stories, we can all be too trusting. And not documenting
> the transaction compounded your problem. Hope we all learn from your
> experience.
>
> Laura Jacobs
> Information Literacy/Archives
> JDH Library
> U Wisconsin - Superior
> PO Box 2000
> Superior WI 54880
> (715) 394-8359
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas Berry [mailto:tberry@WCNET.ORG]
> Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2000 11:30 AM
> To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject: Why originals should never leave the premises
>
>
> This is partly venting and partly advice to the unwarned.
>
> 3 1/2 years ago, an arrangement was made to let an out-of-state party that
> was known to be trustworthy and of good repute borrow a few items from our
> collections. When the party's representatives arrived to make their
> selections, they were given free rein by the volunteer on hand to take
> anything they wanted. Because everyone was in a hurry, nothing was written
> down; the only evidence of what had happened was the blank spot on the
> wall where a framed print had been removed.
>
> When I started here two years ago, I was apprised of the situation by our
> Managing Director and given the task of getting what we could back. Finally,
> after countless phone calls and endless stalling by the borrower, it showed
> up on UPS today.
>
> First problem - sounds of broken glass from one of the three boxes. The
> irreplaceable framed print had been laid on top of other artwork in a flat
> box, with only a measly sheet of foamcore for protection. The glass that
> formerly covered the print was pulverized, and the print was damaged by the
> glass. There are two very obvious nicks and abrasions on the image; in one,
> the glass somehow peeled the colors from the paper. The print can
> be repaired, but it will probably need an art conservator to do it.
>
> Fortunately, nothing else was damaged, even though shards and bits of glass
> were mixed into everything. Very clearly a lousy job by whoever packaged it,
> and UPS would never approve a claim for such a poor packing job. The UPS
> driver offered to take it back to his center for damage inspection, but
> after waiting 3 years and 7 months there was no way he was leaving with it
> again.
>
> Second problem - while our contact at the borrower's office was nice enough
> to provide an inventory of what he sent back, we have no way of knowing if
> it's everything he left with way back when. Further, he had materials from a
> number of sources, so who knows what ended up where.
>
> Third problem: One of the items sent was a presentation album of
> captioned photographs, arranged so that the caption on the back of one
> page matched the photo on the page facing it. That is, they used to,
> until the borrower removed some of the photos, and there's no realistic way
> of ever getting them matched up correctly again.
>
> This is why one should never allow original materials to leave the premises
> except under the strictest control.
>
> Best wishes (which is a lot nicer than AAAAAUGH!),
>
> Thomas Berry, Archivist
> Historical Construction Equipment Association
> 16623 Liberty Hi Road
> Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
> Phone 419-352-5616
> Fax 419-352-6086
> tberry@wcnet.org
> http://www.bigtoy.com
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
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> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
>                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>