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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">At SI, insurance also can pay to repair damage done to the collections, as in an earthquake or building collapse (recent examples).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Furth, David<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 28, 2014 5:04 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'Anita Cholewa'; Peter Rauch<br>
<b>Cc:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Collections insurance values<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">This issue arises every few years and there is no easy answer or solution.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Like many institutions we do not assign values to our collections, for many reasons. We are essentially “self-insured”, i.e. if something is damaged we do
not try to recuperate funds. We do sometimes insure collections being transported and we just try to use a very approximate, but educated value (see below).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Although a slightly different issue, as far as the IRS is concerned, the value of specimens must be based on a “fair market value”, i. e, a similar amount of
money exchanged for similar objects. Such values can be onerous to obtain (e. g., from commercial dealer or auction catalogs, etc.) and often cannot be truly done accurately. And, of course, it is illegal for recipient institutions to provide values to
donors or potential donors. Believe me I understand and sympathize with the issue of irreplaceability of natural history objects (usually very different from art, etc.), but the authorities, and probably even insurance companies, have a different view and
do not understand the scientific value.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">This probably does not provide a clear answer, because it is not an easy or clear cut issue!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">******************************************************</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">David G. Furth, Ph.D.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Department of Entomology</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">MRC 165, P.O. Box 37012</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">National Museum of Natural History</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Smithsonian Institution</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Washington, D. C. 20013-7012 USA</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Phone: 202-633-0990</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Fax: 202-786-2894</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Email:
<a href="mailto:furthd@si.edu">furthd@si.edu</a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Website:
<a href="http://www.entomology.si.edu">www.entomology.si.edu</a> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Anita Cholewa<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 28, 2014 4:01 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Peter Rauch<br>
<b>Cc:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Collections insurance values<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Of course museum specimens, by their very nature, are irreplaceable so a valuation should be infinite.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">However, from an insurance standpoint (and let's be honest, there has to be some minimum value put on these things) you might want to check with an institution such as the Smithsonian or the Field Museum as
to how a valuation can be assessed.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Anita<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 2:24 PM, Peter Rauch <<a href="mailto:peterar@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">peterar@berkeley.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">It would seem that a "scientific" specimen's value today would depend greatly not only on the cost of a field collecting trip, but also on the very potential of being able to collect "equivalent" (whatever that
means) genetic samples, which may be not only time period dependent (specimens sampled from populations of 50/100/200 years ago), but also locality dependent (locality/habitat conditions that no longer exists).<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Such variational representation that those specimens lost from our scientific collections has become so much more meaningful (detectable, analyzable, interpretable, valuable) with today's scientific knowledge
and understanding. One can not simply buy more of the same specimens with the price of a field trip.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">How would those lost or significantly altered situations affect the replacement (if that is what it is to be called) valuation of lost specimens ?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="hoenzb"><span style="color:#888888">Peter<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 7:36 PM, Brown, Matthew A <<a href="mailto:matthewbrown@utexas.edu" target="_blank">matthewbrown@utexas.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear list,<br>
<br>
We've recently been in discussions with the University's Risk Assessment office about their annual (?) policy update. I know that when they visited last about five years ago, we gave them a ballpark of $1-1.5k cost of replacement per specimen for our paleontological
collections. In this recent conversation, they sent a section from the Fine Arts policy stating more or less that loss of "archeological" objects will only be paid out at fair market value, not cost of replacement from the field. I've let them know that as
scientific collections, they don't have commercial value, and that the only way we could rebuild a similar collection is through field work. Risk Management is checking with the insurance company for clarification, and I'm asking for input from the community
to find out how other institutions handle this issue. We've been round on this with customs declaration values before, but I can't think of a resource for this particular issue.<br>
<br>
Any advice would be appreciated.<br>
<br>
With thanks,<br>
<br>
<br>
Matthew A. Brown, M.Sc.<br>
Head of Collections, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory<br>
Lecturer, Department of Geological Sciences<br>
Jackson School of Geosciences<br>
The University of Texas at Austin<br>
R7600, Austin, TX 78758<br>
Office:<a href="tel:%28512%29232-5515" target="_blank">(512)232-5515</a><br>
<a href="mailto:matthewbrown@utexas.edu" target="_blank">matthewbrown@utexas.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://jsg.utexas.edu/vpl" target="_blank">jsg.utexas.edu/vpl</a><br>
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<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of<br>
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose<br>
mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of<br>
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to<br>
society. See <a href="http://www.spnhc.org" target="_blank">http://www.spnhc.org</a> for membership information.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<a href="http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l" target="_blank">http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l</a><br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of<br>
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose<br>
mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of<br>
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to<br>
society. See <a href="http://www.spnhc.org" target="_blank">http://www.spnhc.org</a> for membership information.<o:p></o:p></p>
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-- <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">__________<br>
Anita F. Cholewa, Ph.D.<br>
Curator of the UM Herbarium (MIN)<br>
and Acting Curator of Lichens <br>
J.F. Bell Museum of Natural History<br>
University of Minnesota<br>
1445 Gortner Ave<br>
ST PAUL MN 55108-1095<br>
<br>
campus mail code: 6022<o:p></o:p></p>
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