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Re: Ethics of Deaccessioning



I help archives and museums sell and appraise deaccessioned items. These
usually consist of envelopes, stamps, coins, and post cards. My company
works as an agent to catalog and place in international auctions.

Some of these items are superfluous to the collection; on others, there may
be mutiple duplicates.

Based on my experience and inspection of various institutions, I estimate
that there is over a billion (yes, that's "billion") dollars worth of this
stuff that is not being used.

Shreading these items would benefit no one. I talk with donors on a regular
basis that concur that if their collection produces excess material, selling
to raise money for preservation if fine.

Another whole subject is that thieves are taking these items when they are
stored with the collection.

Doug Mattox

Mattox Coins and Stamps
PO Box 12084
Raleigh, NC 27605

919-832-2291



At 10:38 AM 12/7/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I agree with those who have already said the AAM code of ethics provides
good guidelines.  The point about keeping trust with donors raised by
Barbara Austen is an excellent one.  Donors do not expect that the precious
materials that have donated to an archives or museum to be sold, exchanged,
given to another institution, or whatever.
>
>At my former place of employment at the University of Connecticut, the deed
of gift form had two boxes asking the donor to tell the University what
he/she wanted done should the Archives later decide that some/all of the
papers donated to not fit in with the institution's collecting policy.  The
donor was asked to check a box to indicate (1) that unwanted materials be
returned to him/her or (2) that they could be disposed of by the Archives in
a manner it though proper.
>
>
>
>
>Bruce P. Stark
>Assistant State Archivist
>Connecticut State Library
>231 Capitol Avenue
>Hartford, CT 06106
>860-757-6512
>
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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>