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Collection Policy The John Wesley Powell River History Museum COLLECTION POLICY CONTENTS MISSION STATEMENT …………………………………………………………………… 3 PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE COLLECTIONS POLICY ……………………………. 3 WHAT THE MUSEUM WILL COLLECT ………………………………………………… 4 HOW THE MUSEUM WILL COLLECT ………………………………………………….. 6 LEGAL AND ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS ………………………………………………… 10 DEACCESSION AND DISPOSAL PROCEDURES …………………………………….... 12 LOANS ……………………………………………………………………………………… 16 ORAL HISTORY POLICY ………………………………………………………………… 19 ACCESS ……………………………………………………………………………………... 19 REVIEW ……………………………………………………………………………………. 20 Page | 2 MISSION STATEMENT Connecting people and communities to the significance of river history by celebrating the cultures and landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE COLLECTION POLICY This collection policy serves as a detailed guide for the collecting efforts and procedures of the John Wesley Powell River History Museum. Motivated by the enthusiasm behind our mission and the reality of our most current available resources, this document will direct the actions of the museum’s collections staff in building and managing the collections. The collection policy is a living document outlining the policies, procedures, and legal and ethical responsibilities of the museum with regards to the permanent collection, including archival and research items, and the education collection. The museum has two types of collections: Objects accepted into the permanent collection possess significant historic value and are relevant to the museum’s mission. Objects in this collection are used for exhibits, research, loans to other institutions, and select programming. A significant portion of the permanent collection is held for historical research purposes, and not necessarily for exhibition or permanent display. This section of the permanent collection consists primarily of archival materials, and reflects the types of resources that are most often associated with historical and genealogical research. Objects in the education collection may not meet the requirements for the museum’s permanent collection, but they still maintain a high level of educational value and relevance to the museum’s mission. The collection includes duplicates from the permanent collection; objects rejected from the permanent collection; donated or purchased items specifically sought out for the education collection; and reproductions of period objects. Items may be transferred from the permanent collection to the education collection with the approval of the Collections Manager and the Education and Programs Manager. They are touchable with various degrees of supervision. The museum’s collections are held in the public trust and the collections policy exists to hold the museum accountable for the future growth, development, preservation, and public access to the collections. Page | 3 WHAT THE MUSEUM WILL COLLECT The John Wesley Powell River History Museum is guided by the following themes and categories: KEY THEMES The museum values the history of river running, boatmen, boating technology, and access to the rivers on the Colorado Plateau, and the objects it collects will reflect that history. The museum seeks to interpret the history of exploration on the Colorado Plateau. We seek objects that help tell the individual and collective stories of people like John Wesley Powell, Nathaniel Galloway, Emery and Ellsworth Kolb, and others. The museum serves as the primary repository for objects and archival materials that relate to the history of Green River, both the city and the place that surrounds it, and we seek to retain objects that help interpret the local history of the town, and its place in the larger narrative of Colorado Plateau history. The museum seeks objects that highlight important and interesting individual stories, lifestyles, and histories that relate to the citizens of the town of Green River and the Gunnison Valley. Native communities and other minority communities from the Colorado Plateau provide an important voice in the history of the region, and the museum seeks to collect objects that help tell their story. The museum places a high value on objects that relate to the significance of river history in the region. The museum is committed to expanding access to the history of minorities or often under- represented communities on the Colorado Plateau, and seeks to add objects to the permanent collection that will help tell these stories. TIME PERIOD The museum seeks prehistoric objects, specifically those that relate to communities and cultures who existed in the region before the arrival of Europeans to North America and the Colorado Plateau. The museum seeks objects from the historic era following arrival of Europeans to North America, particularly those that highlight nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century history as they reflect the mission of the organization. Page | 4 GEOGRAPHIC REGION The museum collects objects that help to explore the history of the Colorado Plateau. The museum places a high value on objects that relate to human interaction with watersheds and rivers in the region, with an emphasis on the major rivers of the Colorado Plateau, i.e. the Green, Colorado, and San Juan rivers. The museum also places high value on objects that highlight the local history of the town of Green River, and the Gunnison Valley. PHYSICAL ITEMS TO BE COLLECTED The museum collects archival materials (i.e. photos, papers, books, and digital assets), three dimensional objects, boats of serious and obvious historic value, oral histories, natural history specimens, as well as rock specimens and geology samples as they contribute to the interpretation of the museum’s mission. Objects that come from archeological or paleontological digs, Native American communities or sites relating to Native American communities, endangered species, and natural history objects in general may be accepted. These types of objects must have been collected during scientific research and may only be accepted if all accompanying legal permits from appropriate agencies are present, and all project reports that were derived from the research are provided. ACCESS Access to the collection will be broadly available to the general public through permanent and temporary exhibitions in the John Wesley Powell River History Museum. Objects that are not on exhibition will be available by appointment or invitation only, and only for research or official museum business. Qualified researchers will have access to portions of the collections that are not on exhibition via the museum’s research center by appointment, under supervision by museum staff. Qualified researchers are defined as a person or group that is conducting an organized and systematic investigation into a topic or event. The collections staff is responsible for scheduling the research room and protecting the integrity of the collections as they are being used for research. Objects in the collections will be designated for external research, while others will not. Page | 5 An education collection will provide access to schools, education groups, museum programming, and partners for educational purposes as resources allow. INSURANCE The City of Green River insures the museum and everything inside the building through the city’s insurance policy. This includes objects in the collections, as well as exhibition furniture, office supplies, computers, gift shop inventory, etc… The museum director should work with the city to review the insurance policy annually and guarantee that the museum is adequately insured on all of its liabilities and assets. HOW THE MUSEUM WILL COLLECT Acquisition of objects to the permanent collection will adhere to the following guidelines. ACQUISITION COMMITTEE An acquisition committee will make all decisions on the addition of any objects to the museum’s permanent collection. The acquisition committee will consist of the director of the museum, collections manager or curator, one member of the board of directors, and two committee members at large. All recommendations made by the committee will be retained by the museum and meeting minutes will be collected. METHOD OF ACQUISITION Objects shall be acquired for the permanent collection through gifts, donations, transfers, exchanges, bequest, and purchase. The John Wesley Powell River History Museum is committed to the long-term care of its collections, thus the museum will not accept conditional donations or objects with conditions attached. In order to achieve modern museum standards for collections care, the JWPHRM cannot accept objects in which it does not have complete ownership and control over methods of preservation management. For example, the museum will not accept an item from a donor who requires that the item be on permanent exhibition as this would not allow the museum to adequately limit exposure to the object. Page | 6 The education collection will fall under the same criteria as the permanent collection, with some additional guidelines. Objects for the education collection may be gifted, bequeathed, exchanged, purchased, created, or transferred. Education staff will keep an inventory record of objects in the education collection. Guidelines for Temporary Custody The museum will hold any object that may be added to the permanent collection in temporary custody until the acquisitions committee has made a decision on whether or not it meets the qualifications for acquisition. Museum staff may not store an object in temporary custody without first
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