Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2022 07 20

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Louisville Historical Museum Collections Management Policy 4. Procedures of Acceptance 4.1 For gifts and bequests for the permanent collection, the Museum staff shall make an initial determination as to whether to 1) recommend acceptance by the Historical Commission, in which case the Museum staff should ask the owner to leave the item and sign a Deed of Gift form; 2) decline the offered gift or bequest; or 3) ask the owner to leave the item to be considered further and sign a temporary custody receipt form or Deed of Gift form, and ask the Historical Commission to decide on acceptance. The criteria to be used shall be the "criteria for acceptance" described in this policy. 4.2 It is the role of the Historical Commission to vote on acceptance of gifts and bequests for the permanent collection. The Chair shall sign the deeds being presented for consideration to indicate the Commission's acceptance or non -acceptance. However, Museum staff may accept oral history recordings into the permanent collection and may accept purchased items, abandoned property, items that were "found in collection," and exchange items into the permanent collection, education collection, or reference collection. 4.3 Documentation: Additions to the collections should be accompanied by appropriate documentation indicating the terms of the acquisition. Gifts should have an accompanying Deed of Gift form signed by the donor or donor's agent; bequests should be accompanied by a copy of the will or a statement describing the bequest; oral history recordings should be accompanied by a release signed by the donor of the copyright; and purchases should be accompanied by an invoice or receipt. For items that were exchanges, "found in collection" or abandoned property, Museum staff should describe the circumstances of acceptance. 4.4 For gifts, Museum staff or donors themselves shall describe the donated item or items on a Deed of Gift form. Noting the provenance of the item and how the donor came to own the item, either on the Deed of Gift form or in separate notes, is a particularly important aspect of the donation process. The Chair of the Historical Commission indicates whether the Commission has accepted or not accepted the items at a Commission meeting and signs and dates the form. 4.5 If only a digital image of an item and not the original is being donated, and it is not practicable to obtain the signature of the donor on a Deed of Gift form, the donor's emailed message indicating that the donor is donating the digital image and that it may be used by the Museum as it sees fit shall serve as the Deed of Gift. 4.6 For nonaccessioned items, such as photocopies of family history information intended for research, the Museum staff may request a signed Deed of Gift form and indicate on it that the items are not being accessioned, but the Deed of Gift form does not need to be presented to the Commission for acceptance in order for the item to be used at the Museum. 4.7 If a donation contains a mixture of items to be accessioned and not accessioned, or a mixture of items to be added to the permanent collection, education collection, and reference collection, Museum staff shall communicate with the donor about these distinctions, obtain approval for how the Museum staff would categorize the items, and reflect this understanding in writing on the Deed of Gift form so that the donor gives approval. 4.8 Potential donors leaving items left with Museum staff to be considered for acceptance (if not signing a Deed of Gift form) shall sign, along with Museum staff, a temporary custody receipt form. If the Commission indicates interest in having the Museum receive the gift, Museum staff shall then attempt to arrange with the donor for the donor to sign the Deed of Gift form. 0