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Re: Donation return request



The photos and personal items are an integral part of the scrapbook as it
was donated to your archives and help make it the historic and documentary
artifact that it is..  Even if they could be safely removed, I would not
return them.

Also, even when monetary value is not a consideration, it helps me to think
of donations in those terms sometimes; i.e., to the extent that the
scrapbook has a market value as an antique or collectible, its value will be
lessened if you remove the original historic items.  If there was enough
(dollar) value to the item at the time that the alumna donated it to your
repository she could have taken a tax deduction for it.  If she did so, and
you now return to her daughter part of the "gift" (i.e., the scrapbook)
which the mother gave to your "non-profit educational organization" (i.e.,
Rollins College), then you may be on unstable ground ethically and legally.
This hypothetical situation may not apply to your particular case, but, as I
say, it helps me understand broader issues to look at requests this way.

Catherine Bruck
University Archivist
Illinois Institute of Technology
Paul V. Galvin Library
35 W. 33rd St.
Chicago, IL  60616
312/567-6840
312/567-5318 (FAX)
bruck@iit.edu
http://archives.iit.edu/

-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU]On
Behalf Of Judith Beale
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 12:10 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Donation return requet


Thirty years ago, one of our alumnae donated a scrapbook that she made
while a student. The scrapbook is largely about the college in the
thirties, though it does have a few photographs and other items that
could be considered personal.
Now her daughter has asked for it back. We do not intend to do so as the
scrapbook was clearly intended for us. We are planning to copy it for
her, but we were wondering about the photographs and personal items.
Assuming that we can remove these items (which may not be possible--they
are well stuck down) would any of you consider doing so? or do you feel
that removing anything would destroy the inherent archival value of the
scapbook as a whole?
I would appreciate any comments that might lead us to other
considerations.

Thanks

Judith Beale
Visiting Archivist
Rollins College

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