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FW: Museum exhibition files-- retention question



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alex Pezzati [SMTP:apezzati@sas.upenn.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2000 10:35 AM
> To:   Sammie Morris
> Subject:      Re: Museum exhibition files-- retention question
>
> My first impulse would also be to throw them away.  The Head of your
> department has a valid point, however, even though in the long run their
> usefulness is still very limited.  I can suggest a compromise, though it
> may be time-consuming, which would be to make a list of the articles used
> for each exhibit, and then discard them.  The information is preserved but
> you also get your space back.  Since the photocopies are mainly library
> materials, future scholars should be able to find them again.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Alex Pezzati
> Archivist
> University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives
> 33rd & Spruce Sts.
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324
>
> Tel.: (215) 898-8304
> Fax:  (215) 898-0657
> e-mail:       apezzati@sas.upenn.edu
> www:  http://www.upenn.edu/museum/
>
> At 10:33 AM 11/9/00 -0600, you wrote:
> >Fellow Archivists,
> >
> >This is mostly a question for other museum archivists, although I would
> >welcome input from any one of you.
> >
> >In our exhibition files we have lots of photocopied articles from various
> >publications that our curators used when doing research for exhibits.
> >Normally, it would be my instinct to discard these, as they are not
> >originals, not generated by our museum, and are available through other
> >sources, such as regular art libraries.  Not to mention the amount of
> space
> >they are taking up in the files! (We have over 500 feet of exhibition
> >records.)  Space is a major issue for our archives-- we really have
> little
> >room for future growth of our collections.
> >
> >However, I was speaking about these articles with our Head of Libraries
> and
> >Archives and she pointed out that if anyone was researching a particular
> >exhibit they might be interested in knowing what sources the curators
> >consulted.  She also pointed out that some of the articles might require
> a
> >lot of time and energy to locate again and that it would be preferable to
> >keep these in case we needed them in the future.
> >
> >I'd love to hear your opinions on this issue, especially from those of
> you
> >with experience writing retention schedules for museum archives.
> >
> >Sammie Morris, CA
> >Archivist
> >Dallas Museum of Art
> >1717 North Harwood
> >Dallas, Texas 75201
> >Phone: (214) 922-1375
> >Fax: (214) 954-0174
> >Email: smorris@dm-art.org
> >Web: http://www.dm-art.org
> >
> >
> >Sammie Morris, CA
> >Archivist
> >Dallas Museum of Art
> >1717 North Harwood
> >Dallas, Texas 75201
> >Phone: (214) 922-1375
> >Fax: (214) 954-0174
> >Email: smorris@dm-art.org
> >Web: http://www.dm-art.org
> >
> >A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
> >
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> >
> >Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
> >
> >

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>