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monetary appraisals: summary



Hello all,

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions about appraising
collections for monetary value.  Here's a summary of the responses I
received.  As usual, respondents have no legal training, but base their
answers on their years of experiences in archives, libraries, museums,
historical societies, etc.

I received responses from 12 people, including those who responded to the
entire list.  While several people pointed out that archives should not
provide appraisals (even informal, verbal appraisals), or recommend a
specific appraiser for tax purposes, there was some disagreement about
appraising collections for other reasons.  Responses fell into 2 basic
categories:

-Archival institutions should never assign a value to their collections (5)
(Three of these people also suggested that we hire an appraiser, if we need
a value.)
-Archives can assign a value to a collection, even if the value is arbitrary
(7)


Some interesting points arose as people explained their positions.


* Archival institutions should never assign a value to their
collections--why not?
It's awkward and unethical for archivists to appraise their collections.

Most archivists lack training and experience in appraising collections for
monetary value, so an appraiser should be hired if a "real" value is needed.

It's reasonable for an archives or museum to assign a value to their
collections for insurance purposes, so the material can be replaced (with
materials of equal research interest).  However, including museum or
archival collections as part of the institution's assets (in an annual
report, for example) might be dangerous, since it implies that collections
have a cash value.  This raises the possibility that the materials could be
used as collateral for a loan (and therefore lost, if the institution could
not repay the loan), or sold to cover operating expenses.


* Archives can assign a value to a collection, for internal use only, even
if the value is arbitrary--why would an institution want to do this?
Placing a monetary value on archival collections, and considering them as
part of the institution's assets, might help convince administrators that
the collection represents a valuable investment made by the institution,
which should be protected, funded, etc.

Depending on the institution's insurance policy, it might be necessary to
assign values to specific items in order to insure them.

A value might be required by another department, and providing a value helps
that department do its job.  For example, a development department might use
the monetary value of donations to place donors in the appropriate donor
category, and ensure that they will receive proper recognition for their
gift.  Donor recognition is an important part of institutional development,
even if your values aren't entirely accurate.


* How do you assign values to archival collections?
The archives has developed a schedule of values for different types of
items.  Staff counts items, then applies values from the schedule.

Two archives assign a standard, arbitrary value to all collections which
have research interest only, and which arrive unapprised.  This may be made
more accurate by appraising certain items individually, based on published
values from collectors' guides, e-Bay, etc.

The archivist uses a gut feeling about how worthwhile a collection is for
research, even if this value is not the same as financial value.

Staff members guess a value as accurately as possible, relying on per page
or per photo prices if necessary.

Archives staff has searched the internet for similar items to aid in
assigning monetary value.

Several respondents also pointed out that if the value is just used
internally, rather than for tax or insurance purposes, it's not a "real"
number, so its accuracy isn't worth worrying about.


*Some other considerations arose as  well:
Appraising archival collections may be more common in museum archives,
because administrators are used to dealing with art objects and artifacts,
which are routinely appraised.

Some insurance policies don't require values for individual items.

Archives should not publish or publicize the value of individual's donations
in any way, without the donor's approval.  To do so risks annoying a donor
at best, and at worst may provoke a lawsuit.

How do you appraise a collection when it enters the archives, knowing that
it will be weeded later, and become smaller?


Thanks to again to everyone who answered my original question.

Rebecca

Rebecca Hatcher, Archivist
Rakow Research Library of The Corning Museum of Glass
5 Museum Way
Corning, NY 14830
(607) 974-8099
HatcherRE@cmog.org

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