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Re: Why originals should never leave the premises



oooops!  sorry to the list members for my blunder.  vacation can not come soon
enough...

AJ Du Fresne wrote:

> Do you have that stuff still waiting for me to pick up?  If so i will send Don
> to pick it up Friday.
>
> AJ
>
> Thomas Berry wrote:
>
> > 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>
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