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Re: monetary appraisal



I'm having a similar problem with the need to assign value to archival
collections.

One difference for my situation, though, is that we absolutely do not assign
value to collections or items or anything else. If donors need a tax
valuation, they pay for, and we work with, an appraiser. Does an institution
really need to have a "value" for some other reason? (If so, I'd be glad to
hear, so I can be prepared when it's sprung on me later!) I see a real
ethical problem with technical staff assigning value to a collection.

My problem is in trying to establish archival procedures within a museum
context... the museum guys get individual items which they decide to keep or
not, then it's appraised if they decide to keep it. I might get 5 linear
feet of material, decide I want the collection, might not get to processing
for a few months, and then might discard 2 feet of it. How can you assign
value to a collection of papers when you might be throwing 2/5 away?

Georgen Gilliam

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