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Re: Stupid question, probably



Honestly, Daniel!

"Original order" my foot.  That is no basis for such a decision.  Who among
us can say that the records we receive are in pristine order?  Or that they
haven't been pre-selected by circumstances, whim, and design?

I hope you don't mean it when you say that you "don't collect from
individuals."  Officers, employees and other associates are an excellent --
and sometimes the only -- source of material that has not been retained by
the creating departments.  Perhaps you meant that you don't seek to acquire
collections of personal papers?  That's a limitation you may want to bend,
sooner or later.  Consider.  How important is this fellow to your
organization?  If the answer is "very", why not ask him to complete the
collection by donating the rest of his papers?

Always respect the donor's wishes.  But his "thinking"??  If you don't have
a deed for this gift, get one! If you did not promise that the material
would be kept as a discrete collection, then you have no obligation to do
so.  On the other hand, if you believe that the donor does expect  this,
then talk to him.  Tell him your needs.

If neither one of you can accommodate, then help him to find another
repository that will agree to keep the collection intact.  Better to loose
the gift than the trustee's goodwill.

Good luck.


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

Tel:  847-825-5586

Fax:  847-825-2692

e-mail:  j.robins@ASAHQ.org





-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Sokolow [mailto:DSokolow@NSHS.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 10:43 AM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Stupid question, probably


'lo all;

I know we've dealt with this before, but my search skills in the archives of
the list are not functioning.  I've got a box of materials that were donated
by a trustee, and rather than leave it as a unique group (we don't really
collect from individuals, only departments and facilities) I'm inclined to
break up the materials by subject matter and fold it into the rest of the
collection, most of which came from Community Relations.

I know many will say I should leave it as a whole group, on the philosophy
that original order should rule, or that I should respect the donor's
thinking.  My argument for the other side is that these records were already
selected out of the bulk of the donor's papers, ergo the original order has
no application; moreover, the documents were already dealt with once by my
predecessor, and I'm certain their current order has no relation to its
original layout.  The only materials we got were those connected to the
institution, so my assumption is that we only saw what related to us, and
the business or personal correspondence of the donor went elsewhere.

Anyway, I'd like feedback.  Ideas?
DS

______________________________________
Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
David Taylor Archives
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
155 Community Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
mailto:dsokolow@nshs.edu

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