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Collection Policy

This document is a tool for Museum staff to help them maintain and improve the quality of the Museum's collections.

Conditions of Acquisition

Legal Requirements

In collecting material for the Museum collections the Museum will adhere to all current relevant legislation or agreed conventions including the following: UK laws; if applicable, the law of the country of the item's origin; international law and international conventions on the protection or export of cultural property or natural history conservation (whether the UK government is a signatory to the treaty or not).

Any object accepted should be the property of the donor/vendor.  The object should not be acquired if there is any reason to think that the current owner does not have the right to transfer title to the Museum.

Extra conditions as laid down in the current Resource/SEMS Guidelines -

  1. The Museum will not 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, and that in particular it 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 the 'country of origin' includes the United Kingdom.)
  2. 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  (e.g. a British Court in the case of a specimen seized from a third party under the Protection of Birds Acts).
  3. So far as British or foreign archaeological antiquities (including excavated ceramics) are concerned, in addition to the safeguards under sub-paragraph a. above, the museum will not acquire objects in any case where the governing body or responsible officer has reasonable cause to believe that the circumstances of their recovery involved the recent unscientific or intentional destruction or damage of ancient monuments or other known archaeological sites, or involved a failure to disclose finds to the owner or occupier of the land, or to the proper authorities in the case of a possible Treasure Trove (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or Bona Vacantia (Scotland).

Perpetuity

When accepting any item for the Museum's main collection it is for perpetuity.

The Museum should believe it can provide adequate and continuing care of and access to the item, without jeopardising the care of and access to the existing collection.  Long and short term resource implications must always be considered before taking the final decision to add something to the collection. Resources in this case include staff time in processing the acquisitions, cost of storage materials and space and conservation cost.

Geographical Area

The Museum will collect material that has been made or used in Stevenage Borough. 

The surrounding villages are under the authority of another Council, but in practice look to Stevenage, as their nearest town for their museum provision. With the agreement of their local museum service we will collect material from the following villages:

Limitations on collecting

The Museum recognises its responsibility, in acquiring material, to ensure adequate conservation, documentation and proper use of such material and takes into account limitations on collecting imposed by such factors as inadequate staffing, storage and conservation resources.

Collecting policies of other institutions

The museum will take due account of the collecting policies of other institutions 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 specialisation, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and waste of resources.

Due to the nature of the collection being area specific, and there being only one museum in the town there is little likelihood of conflict with other museums.  Outlying locations are the only possible subject for conflict or duplication, in which case the museums at Hitchin, Hertford or Welwyn Hatfield are contacted.

The museum's governing body will be guided by the Code of practice on Archives for Museums in the United kingdom (1996) with respect to printed ephemera and photographs.  It will also aim to meet the standards outlined in the Royal Commission on Historic Manuscripts - Standards for Record Repositories (1990)

Condition of items

The cost of conservation needs to be taken into account when considering anything for the collection.  If an item is in need of significant conservation expenditure in order to be suitable/safe for display or storage it should not be accepted unless funds are available to pay for the work.

Duplication

The Museum should not accept duplicate items nor even items that are similar to some already held.  The aim of the collection is to be representative not comprehensive.

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