[Nhcoll-l] Question on Office Collection Ethics

[Prondzinski, Mary Beth]

Greetings all:

Here at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, we are in the final throes of putting together our Collections Policy and we had some questions about the section on "Standards of Conduct Relating to Collections" where Faculty/Staff are concerned.  In the case of personal collections:  we have a clause that says personal collections cannot be maintained on Museum property without permission from the Executive Director, and no museum supplies, equipment or paid staff can be utilized by such.

However, personal collections that are acquired during museum employ (or even before), are oftentimes used for comparative or teaching examples and may or may not be museum-worthy samples, or even in the person's realm of study.   The problem arises when the personal collection objects  become mixed in with the museum's collection objects:  if the person should suddenly meet their demise, how does one who must sort through the remaining objects know what is museum collections, potential museum collections or personal collections?   What sort of restriction or regulations can be implemented to prevent such confusion?  How do others in academic/research institutions deal with this sort of situation?  One of our staff has a huge personal collection of skeletal effigies, reminiscent of "Day of the Dead", which co-mingles with the primitive human osteology research collection in his office.   Another collects skulls, turtle carapaces, etc. that he finds in his travels, though his research is Vertebrate Paleo.

Any suggestions on protocol?

Thanks for your input...

Mary Beth Prondzinski
Museum Collections Technician
Alabama Museum of Natural History
University of Alabama
Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, #356
Box 870340
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
(205) 348-5625
mbprondzinski at ua.edu<mailto:mbprondzinski at ua.edu>
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