This Internet Version of the policy differs in formatting and layout from
the original and the initial headings have been restructured. These changes
have been made in the interests of accessibility where replication of the
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changes do not affect the meaning or text of the policy. If you require a copy
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The Canal Museum Trust
London Canal Museum Collections Management Policy
(incorporating acquisition and disposal policy)
January 2010
Date of approval by the Council of
Management:
January 12th 2010
Date at which policy due for review:
(5 years after approval date) - January 2015
Version 6.1
1. Introduction
1.1. The London Canal Museum's mission is set out above and in the
Constitution of the Canal Museum Trust and the museum's Forward Plan. The
museum's collections exist to support the mission, to preserve and interpret
the history of London's canals and the ice trade. They include social
historical objects, industrial objects, archives, photographs and records on
other media.
1.2. The purpose of this Collection Management Policy is to be a guide for
museum staff, supporters, and the public, to the professional standards the
museum will observe towards the objects in its care. It seeks to reassure the
public that the museum is operating within an ethical framework and is publicly
accountable.
1.3. This document will be published on the museum's Internet website and a
copy on paper will be supplied to any person who wishes to receive it at no
greater charge than is sufficient to cover the expenses of stationary and
postage in so doing.
1.4. The Trust's Council of Management is the governing body of the museum.
2. The Existing Collection
2.1. The museum's collections include objects related to canals, social
history, industry, and art. The museum also includes archives which contain
papers, maps, photographs, audio and video tapes.
2.2. Specific areas in which the museum has a collection of artefacts are:
- Canal equipment
- Canal art
- Equipment related to the ice trade
- Horses and their care and use for transport
- Cargo handling and weighing equipment
2.3. The museum recognises that it has an obligation to care for its
collections in perpetuity.
3. Period of time and geographical scope of collecting
- Most items relating to the areas of collection will be from the 18th, 19th,
20th and 21st centuries but the museum will be free to accept earlier items if
they are offered.
- There is a strong bias towards collecting items which were used in or are
otherwise connected with the greater London area and surrounding counties.
However, the museum will not forbear to collect items from other areas which
are representative of items of a type used throughout the country, or which
help to illuminate the general context of the history of inland waterways in
the London area.
- Items related exclusively to the river Thames will only be collected if
they illustrate a general point or the interchange between canal and river
navigation.
- Items related to the ice trade and ice cream will be collected irrespective
of geography
- Items related to the history of the museum's building and the family of
Carlo Gatti will be collected irrespective of geography.
4. Limitations on Collecting
- The museum will not accept all artefacts which may be offered to it. In
particular offers of artefacts will be declined in the following circumstances:
- Where the proposed gift is encumbered by conditions considered
unacceptable.
- Where the item is infested with pests or disease, unless it can be easily
treated or the item is rare and the cost or difficulty of treating it is judged
worthwhile.
- If the museum cannot provide long term care for the artefact.
- If the museum has insufficient storage space or other resources needed to
accept the item.
- If accepting the item would be prejudicial to the health and safety of
museum staff or visitors.
5. Collecting Policy of other museums
- The museum will take due account of the collecting policies of other
museums collecting in the same or related areas or subject fields and will
consult with such organisations where conflicts of interest may arise or to
define areas of specialisms, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and
waste of resources. Specific reference is made to the following other museums:
- The National Waterways Museum, Gloucester Docks
- The National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
- The National Waterways Museum, Stoke Bruerne
- Foxton Canal Museum
- Kennet and Avon Canal Museum
- Museum of London
- River and Rowing Museum
6. Policy Review Procedure
- The Acquisitions and Disposal policy will be published and reviewed from
time to time, at least once every five years. The date when the policy is next
due for review is noted above. The Regional MLA will be notified of any changes
to the Acquisition and Disposal Policy, and the implications of any such
changes for the future of existing collections
7. Acquisitions not covered by the Collections Management Policy
- Acquisitions outside the current stated policy will only be made in very
exceptional circumstances, and then only after proper consideration by the
governing body of the museum itself, having regard to the interests of other
museums.
8. Acquisition Policy
- The museum will exercise due diligence and make every effort not to
acquire, whether by purchase, gift, bequest or exchange, any object or specimen
unless the governing body or responsible officer is satisfied that the museum
can acquire a valid title to the item in question.
- In particular, the museum will not acquire any object unless it is
satisfied that the object or has not been acquired in, or exported from, its
country of origin (or any intermediate country in which it may have been
legally owned) in violation of that country's laws. (For the purposes of this
paragraph `country of origin' includes the United Kingdom).
- In accordance with the provisions of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the
Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of
Ownership of Cultural Property, which the UK ratified with effect from November
1 2002, and the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003, the museum
will reject any items that have been illicitly traded. The governing body will
be guided by the national guidance on the responsible acquisition of cultural
property issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2005.
- So far as biological and geological material is concerned, the museum will
not acquire by any direct or indirect means any specimen that has been
collected, sold or otherwise transferred in contravention of any national or
international wildlife protection or natural history conservation law or treaty
of the United Kingdom or any other country, except with the express consent of
an appropriate outside authority.
- The museum will not acquire archaeological antiquities (including excavated
ceramics) in any case where the governing body or responsible officer has any
suspicion that the circumstances of their recovery involved a failure to follow
the appropriate legal procedures. In England, Northern Ireland and Wales the
procedures include reporting finds to the landowner or occupier of the land and
to the proper authorities in the case of possible treasure as defined by the
Treasure Act 1996.
- Any exceptions to the above clauses 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, or 8.5 will only be
because the museum is either: -acting as an externally approved repository of
last resort for material of local (UK) origin; or -acquiring an item of minor
importance that lacks secure ownership history but in the best judgement of
experts in the field concerned has not been illicitly traded; or -acting with
the permission of authorities with the requisite jurisdiction in the country of
origin; or -in possession of reliable documentary evidence that the item was
exported from its country of origin before 1970. In these cases the museum will
be open and transparent in the way it makes decisions and will act only with
the express consent of an appropriate outside authority.
- The museum does not hold or intend to acquire any human remains.
9. Spoilation
- The museum will use the statement of principles "Spoliation of Works
of Art during the Nazi, Holocaust and World War II period", issued for
non-national museums in 1999 by the Museums and Galleries Commission.
10. Management of Archives
- As the museum holds, including photographs and printed ephemera, its
governing body will be guided by the Code of Practice on Archives for Museums
and Galleries in the United Kingdom (3rd ed., 2002).
11. Disposal Prelimineries
- The Council of Management will ensure that the disposal process is carried
out openly and with transparency.
- By definition, the museum has a long-term purpose and holds collections in
trust for society in relation to its stated objectives. The Council of
Management therefore accepts the principle that sound curatorial reasons for
disposal must be established before consideration is given to the disposal of
any items in the museum's collection.
- The museum will confirm that it is legally free to dispose of an item and
agreements on disposal made with donors will be taken into account.
- When disposal of a museum object is being considered, the museum will
establish if it was acquired with the aid of an external funding organisation.
In such cases, any conditions attached to the original grant will be followed.
This may include repayment of the original grant and a proportion of the
proceeds if the item is disposed of by sale.
12. Motivation for disposal and method of disposal
- When disposal is motivated by curatorial reasons the procedures outlined
in paragraphs 12.3-12.11 will be followed and the method of disposal may be by
gift, sale or exchange.
- The museum will not undertake disposal motivated principally by financial
reasons
- The disposal decision-making process Whether the disposal is
motivated either by curatorial or financial reasons, the decision to dispose of
material from the collections will be taken by the governing body only after
full consideration of the reasons for disposal. Other factors including the
public benefit, the implications for the museum's collections and collections
held by museums and other organisations collecting the same material or in
related fields will be considered. External expert advice will be obtained and
the views of stakeholders such as donors, researchers, local and source
communities and others served by the museum will also be sought.
- Responsibility for disposal decision-making.A decision to dispose of
a specimen or object, whether by gift, exchange, sale or destruction (in the
case of an item too badly damaged or deteriorated to be of any use for the
purposes of the collections or for reasons of health and safety), will be the
responsibility of the governing body of the museum acting on the advice of
professional curatorial staff, if any, and not of the curator of the collection
acting alone.
- Use of proceeds of sale. Any monies received by the museum
governing body from the disposal of items will be applied for the benefit of
the collections. This normally means the purchase of further acquisitions. In
exceptional cases, improvements relating to the care of collections in order to
meet or exceed Accreditation requirements relating to the risk of damage to and
deterioration of the collections may be justifiable. Any monies received in
compensation for the damage, loss or destruction of items will be applied in
the same way. Advice on those cases where the monies are intended to be used
for the care of collections will be sought from MLA.
- The proceeds of a sale will be ring-fenced so it can be demonstrated that
they are spent in a manner compatible with the requirements of the
Accreditation standard.
- Disposal by gift or sale. Once a decision to dispose of material in
the collection has been taken, priority will be given to retaining it within
the public domain, unless it is to be destroyed. It will therefore be offered
in the first instance, by gift or sale, directly to other Accredited Museums
likely to be interested in its acquisition.
- If the material is not acquired by any Accredited Museums to which it was
offered directly as a gift or for sale, then the museum community at large will
be advised of the intention to dispose of the material, normally through an
announcement in the Museums Association's Museums Journal, and in other
specialist journals where appropriate.
- The announcement relating to gift or sale will indicate the number and
nature of specimens or objects involved, and the basis on which the material
will be transferred to another institution. Preference will be given to
expressions of interest from other Accredited Museums. A period of at least two
months will be allowed for an interest in acquiring the material to be
expressed. At the end of this period, if no expressions of interest have been
received, the museum may consider disposing of the material to other interested
individuals and organisations giving priority to organisations in the public
domain.
- Disposal by exchange. The museum will not dispose of items by
exchange.
- Documenting disposal. Full records will be kept of all decisions on
disposals and the items involved and proper arrangements made for the
preservation and/or transfer, as appropriate, of the documentation relating to
the items concerned, including photographic records where practicable in
accordance with SPECTRUM Procedure on deaccession and disposal.
13. Loans to the museum
- The museum will accept items on loan from individuals or organisations,
including other museums, for the purpose of temporary and long term exhibition,
where no suitable alternative artefact owned by the Canal Museum Trust is
available. Items will not be accepted on loan if they are not required for
display, or likely to be so required in the foreseeable future. Loans will be
authorised either by the Council of Management, or by the Collections
Management Committee.
- Loans of photographs and other media may also be accepted on a short term
basis for copying.
- Loans will be accepted only if the museum is able to offer a standard of
care equivalent to that given to items in the permanent collection, and has the
resources so to do.
- In all cases a loan agreement in writing shall be signed by the owner and a
representative of the museum. Such agreements will be for specified terms of no
more than ten years (and normally no more than five) and in no circumstances
will be described as permanent loans. Loan agreements may be renewed for a
further period by agreement with the owner, when they expire.
- Items on loan will be recorded as loans on a computer database in like
manner to items which are accessioned to the permanent collection.
- Items may be accepted on a temporary loan basis for examination or
assessment prior to a decision being made on acceptance of the item as a gift
or longer term loan.
14. Loans by the museum to others
- Loans of artefacts in the museum's permanent collection may be made. The
museum may impose conditions on the loan. All loans must be authorised by
either the Council of Management or the Collection Management Committee who may
refuse at their discretion. The loan period shall be decided according to
circumstances but for a maximum of five years.
- In all cases a loan agreement will be signed by the borrower and a
representative of the museum. The agreement must cover:
- The duration of the loan
- Any questions of copyright which arise
- Acknowledgement of the London Canal Museum
- Requirements for security if applicable
- Requirements for transport of the item
- Care of the item during the loan period
- Requirements for insurance
- If applicable, whether the item may be worked or used.
- 3 Loans will only be made if by so doing the museum's exhibitions are not
seriously diminished.
15. Access to collections
- A high proportion of the museum's collection is on regular exhibition to
the public. Where objects are held in store, persons wishing to view may do so
by prior arrangement. Such appointments will not be unreasonably withheld but
persons wishing to see objects will be offered appointments when appropriate
museum staff are available and they may not be possible at short notice.
- Access to the museum's library and archive collection is restricted to
bona fide researchers and students and is by prior arrangement only. Such
appointments will not be unreasonably withheld but persons wishing to study the
archives or use the library will be offered times and dates when appropriate
museum staff are available and an appointment may not be possible at short
notice. The museum reserves the right to refuse access to vulnerable material
in the interests of its safe preservation. Where the field of study can be
pursued using the resources of public or university libraries or the purchase
of currently available books the museum may at its discretion direct the
student or researcher to those sources. In certain cases references may be
required of the researcher or student.
16. Education Handling Collection
- The museum will maintain a separate Education Collection for the purpose
of providing material for handling and outreach work.
- In the case of such material, documentation will clearly show the intended
use of the object and donors will be made aware of the possibility of use in
this way.
- These objects will be recorded separately outside the main accession
record and shall not be treated as part of the permanent collection since their
intended use implies that preservation cannot be guaranteed.
- When such materials are loaned to schools or other organisations for
educational purposes, the policy described in section 14 above will not apply.
Reasonable arrangements will be made by the museum's Education Officer
appropriate to the circumstances.
17. Documentation
- The museum will maintain the following documentation in respect of its
collection:
- Records to indicate what items are held, whether owned or on loan, and
where each item is located
- Records of all objects leaving the premises and in transit
- Records in an Object Entry Register of all in-incoming items, whether for
accession, identification or loan,
- The museum will maintain procedures for the return of items received for
identification or possible acquisition once a decision has been made.
- Artefacts in the permanent collection and on long term loan are assigned
with an accession number recorded in the computerised Accessions Register and
where practicable without risk of damage to the item are discretely labelled,
tagged, or otherwise physically identified by the number. The computer records
include a detailed description, and as much information as available on the
provenance of the artefact, together with a record of the current location.
- A backup copy of the registers will be kept off the premises in a bound
paper volume and also in an electronic format.
18. Security and insurance
- The museum strives to educate its staff, including casual volunteers, to
make them aware that it is their responsibility to protect and preserve the
items in their care and of issues of security in relation to theft, accidental
damage and danger from the elements.
- Staff involved in the handling of objects will receive appropriate basic
training
- Rooms housing archive materials and collection items in store are kept
locked at all times except when in use. The keys to these rooms are in
restricted circulation. Risks to other items are minimised by practical, common
sense procedures and good house keeping.
- The Canal Museum Trust maintains a comprehensive insurance policy covering
the building, its contents, and liabilities to volunteers and the public
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