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Re: Deaccessioning "stuff"



Got a few years, James?  There are so many pieces to your jigsaw puzzle that
we may spend the first year just identifying them all.  These include the
assumptions you've made about who we serve.  So is the attitude that "such
concerns" as do not fit the definition of archival record have no place in
an archives.

The questions you raise segue very well with the plenary "debate" and
following discussion that was a highlight of the recent MAC/MARAC meeting
(Cleveland, Oct. 17-21).  The points of that discussion were whether or not
The Archives Profession can or should stretch to including among its ranks
curators of personal papers and other materials not necessarily created by,
to use your phrase, a "parent institution". (NB: I put the word "debate" in
quotation marks because the panel lacked an opposing position.)

First, I recommend that you consult the SAA Code of Ethics, which deals
handily with many of your questions regarding donor and public relations.
Next, Peterson's "Archives and Manuscripts Law", or Malaro's "Primer" for
museum administrators, which will answer most of the others.  Do not neglect
your institution's Development Office; they may have some policies regarding
gifts-in-kind.

Finally, allow me to deconstruct your stage setting.  The following opinions
and recommendations are entirely my own.  All questions asked are posed not
to elicit an answer, but so that you may ask yourself.

Mission

Quit dithering, James.  If you really can't decide how to spend your your
time and resources, then it's time to write a better mission statement.

Collecting goals

Accessioning and deaccessioning choices are made for many reasons, not all
of them logical or beneficial.  Politics plays its role in these decisions.
And change also happens, bringing yet more reasons in its train.  Written
collecting policies and deaccessioning procedures can serve you well.

Deaccessioning gifts

Before you do anything precipitate, know all there is to know about how and
why the material was acquired.  I gather that your own institution's
deaccessioning procedure is silent on the matter of gifts.  That omission
should be corrected.

You are legally "obliged", as you say, to do whatever you have Agreed to do.
If your organization has made promises to its donors, you'll have to act
accordingly.  With all the necessary authorities in place, you may be
permitted to request of a donor that he reconsider the terms of his gift.
In such a case, it is wise to offer the donor praise, gratitude, regret, and
alternatives.

If there's no deal on the books, Then you have a moral obligation to notify
the donor of your intention to deaccession, and offer him a reasonable
opportunity -- with a clear deadline -- to reclaim or redirect his gift.
Document all your contacts with, or attempts to find, the donor.

Filthy lucre

There's nothing unethical about selling what belongs to you.  Does it belong
to you?  Better have that deed of gift signed, sealed, and blessed by your
institution's legal counsel.  Whether you are allowed to profit by such
sales is also a matter of law.  What's your tax status?  And here again we
encounter an assumption about the value of this "stuff" you disdain.  Take a
look at eBay.  There is nothing so useless, so ugly, so decrepit, so vulgar,
or so odd that Nobody would buy it.  Don't make too many plans for spending
the income; what happens to the proceeds is likely to be out of your hands.

Cordially,

Judy Robins,
Collections Supervisor,
Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology
520 N. Northwest Highway
Park Ridge, IL  60068-2573

Tel:  847-825-5586

Fax:  847-825-1692

e-mail:  j. robins@ASAHQ.org







-----Original Message-----
From: James Gerencser [mailto:gerencse@DICKINSON.EDU]
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 10:23 AM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Deaccessioning "stuff"


I'd like to get a discussion started regarding deaccessioning items that
are NOT the records of the primary institution you serve, but rather
miscellaneous gifts that have come to your facility through various
means over time.  I'm especially interested to hear what everyone thinks
our obligations as professionals are with regard to the amount of time
devoted to such concerns (meaning less time spent on the materials of the
parent institution), the ethical concerns of selling vs. giving materials
away, and public relations concerns.  Allow me to set the stage.

Many of us wear several hats, being institutional archivists, records
managers, and special collections librarians all rolled into one.  In
these joint Archives/Special Collections repositories are often to be
found things which were donated over the years that do not support the
mission of the repository or its parent institution.  (These materials I
often refer to as "stuff," kitsch, or just plain garbage.)  People
responsible for accepting such gifts in the past often did no appraisal,
gave no consideration for the appropriateness of the gift, had no
policies in place to guide such decision-making, and made no formal
agreement regarding the transfer of this gift.

Time and space are valuable commodities.  If one determines that some
"stuff" donated thirty years ago should be deaccessioned, should the
materials be made available for public sale (assuming they are of some
value that would warrant others purchasing them)?  What should be
done with funds generated through such a sale?  Without a formal gift
agreement, does the repository have a legal leg to stand on in determining
the disposition of these materials at all? (In other words, is possession
nine-tenths of the law?)  If the original donors are dead and buried, what
right do descendants have to reclaim these materials, or derive profit
from their sale? Should the materials simply be donated to a more
appropriate repository?  Is there an ethical obligation to keep such
materials in your repository as they were accepted on good faith in the
past, before policies were in place that would have outlined everyone's
rights and obligations?

So, there it is.  I look forward to hearing what others think, and what
others have done when dealing with this problem.

Jim Gerencser
College Archivist and
  Special Collections Librarian
Waidner-Spahr Library
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA  17013
  (717) 245-1094

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      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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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>