Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2022 07 20

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Louisville Historical Museum Collections Management Policy 4.9 Museum staff will notify owners if their items were not accepted and notify them that the items must be retrieved by the owner within 30 days of notification. Items not retrieved by the owner within 30 days after notification will be disposed of at the discretion of the Museum Coordinator and without any liability to the Museum, Museum staff, City of Louisville, or Historical Commission members. 4.10 The Museum uses PastPerfect museum cataloging software to catalog items in the collections. Every item entering the Museum's collections shall receive a catalog (object ID) number that includes an accession number. For occurrences in the past in which multiple items were assigned the same catalog number to share, or in which multiple items with different catalog numbers were cataloged together, it is a priority for the Museum to now rectify those occurrences so that the items can be differentiated and separately cataloged and stored. This may involve adding extension numbers to the existing catalog numbers, as needed, as well as ensuring that each item has been cataloged separately so that each has its own unique catalog number and description in the PastPerfect catalog. Related archival items such as documents sharing a common donor and topic, however, may be assigned one number as an archival collection and should be stored together. 4.11 Donation and registration records, including deaccessioning records, shall be kept and maintained in perpetuity. Paper copies of collection records will be stored at the Museum. 4.12 Museum staff shall send donors a thank -you letter with a copy of the Deed of Gift form that has been signed by the donor and the Historical Commission Chair. In cases in which only a digital image of an item and not the original is being donated, and 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 is serving as the Deed of Gift, the donor may be thanked by email. S. Security of and Access to Collection 5.1 Authority The Museum and its owner, the City of Louisville, have the responsibility of safeguarding the physical integrity of its collections. It is also recognized that the collections exist for the education and benefit of present and future generations. Therefore, the public shall have reasonable access to collections and records at the Museum for research and other legitimate purposes. The Museum staff regulates access to the collections and the public shall direct requests for access to the Museum Coordinator. The Museum staff retains authority concerning access and use of collections based upon knowledge of the items, including such factors as condition, rarity, fragility, importance, quantity of artifacts of similar kind in the collections, and religious or cultural significance. Should a situation arise in which collections preservation and collections access conflict, preservation shall take precedence except when the item is held by the Museum for specific types of usage. Requests for images of photographs in the Museum's collections and the fees for such images are covered by the Photograph Reproduction Policy & Agreement. Fees are paid to the City of Louisville as the owner of the images in the Museum's collections. 5.2 Current Conditions The Museum's collections are estimated to be made up of approximately 19,300 photos, artifacts, and books. The current conditions include many threats to the collections. These include the following: 7