Quinte Educational Museum

Quinte Educational Museum & Archives

Policy - Conservation

CONSERVATION

Preamble The Quinte Educational Museum and Archives (QEMA) exists to
collect and preserve archival materials which illustrate the growth
and development of education in the County of Prince Edward and
related material from the Province of Ontario, with a focus from the
earliest days to the transition from the one room school to the central
schools. The purpose of the collections policy is to establish QEMA’s
guidelines for:
* The methods of acquiring for accession objects including artifacts,
works of art, documents, photographs, books, and any other
materials (hereafter collectively referred to as objects) or the
collections.
* The care of collections.
* The establishment and maintenance of a comprehensive, accessible
system of record-keeping for all objects places in the custody of
QEMA.
* The deaccessioning of objects.
* The lending of objects to or borrowing of objects from other
museums, institutions, and private sources.

Although, QEMA may accept loans or donations of non-accessioned
objects for purposes of research, teaching, and public programming and
every effort will be made to maintain the same level of safeguards as for
accessioned objects, the following policy applies only to objects that
have been accessioned.

Policy QEMA will actively establish, maintain, and expand the accessioned
collections according to three tiers of priority: Core areas, Intermediate
areas, and Peripheral areas. These tiers are meant to be fluid in that
collections may move from one tier to another as new opportunities for
significant acquisitions or curatorial research arises. Collection
development and setting of priorities will be guided by the specialized
knowledge and research expertise of qualified professional staff.

Core Areas QEMA’s core collections are those of local or provincial significance
supported by locally or provincially recognized programs of curatorial
research. These core areas are central to QEMA’s mandate and QEMA
is committed to them on a long-term basis. The following collections are
currently considered core areas:
* Art composed by (in order of priority) local, provincial, national or
international artists, with an international priority on the United
Kingdom and the United States.
* Books or documents that are related to education or the history of
education
* Books or documents that were used by students, teachers,
administration and/or government relating to education and the
history of education in Ontario and Prince Edward County.
* Artifacts and documents relating to prohibition in Ontario
* Artifacts and documents relating to the World Wars and how this
affected life and education in Ontario
* Any historical artifacts or material culture that would have been used
or part of the school system in Ontario or Prince Edward County.

Intermediate Collections of local or provincial importance for which QEMA has some
Areas relevant curatorial expertise are considered “intermediate”. These
collections have the potential to become core areas through significant
acquisitions of objects and development of curatorial research.

Peripheral Some areas of interest are not represented in QEMA collections. Other
Areas areas have only small collections, with limited potential at present for
research and public programming, and with few or no opportunities for
growth. Such areas are considered “peripheral”.

Conditions Objects will be accessioned into QEMA’s collections only under the of
Acquisition following conditions:
* The objects must be consistent with and relevant to QEMA’s
mission.
* QEMA must be able to provide proper care and storage for the
objects. No object should be considered for acquisition if its physical
condition exceeds QEMA’s financial ability for its proper care and
preservation.
* The objects must be accompanied by warranties of good legal title.
* The objects must be accompanied by a good record of provenance
and must be authenticated. Exceptions will be reviews on a case-by-
case basis.
* The objects should be accompanied by valuations, where
appropriate.
* Objects can be accessioned into a collection only by a curator who
has expertise in the area.
* Donations must be free and clear of conditions and restrictions
imposed by the donors regarding QEMA’s use of the objects.
* All donations to QEMA’s collections are irrevocable upon the
formal transfer of title to QEMA.
* QEMA will acquire all economic rights necessary to permit
anticipated exhibition and reproduction uses. QEMA will respect the
creator’s right to the integrity of the work. Where reasonable,
QEMA will respect the creator’s right to be associated with the work
as its named creator.
* QEMA is satisfied that any object to be acquired whether by
donation, exchange, or purchase, is not stolen or otherwise illegally
acquired or collected. The acquisition of cultural property which has
been in foreign countries will comply with the Cultural Property
Export and Import Act, which incorporates the principles and
provisions of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting
and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership
of Cultural Property (1970) into Canadian law.

Care of QEMA will allocate an annual budget for funding the continuing care
Collections and preservation of objects in its collections. Proper storage and
exhibition facilities along with adequate environmental-control systems
must be top priorities for QEMA at all times.

QEMA will ensure that the collections are adequately protected against
fire, flood, pests, theft, vandalism, and natural disaster. These issues are
addressed further in the Emergency & Disaster Planning Policie.

QEMA will establish and maintain a comprehensive system of records
that will include the following information:
* Documentation pertaining to the provenance and legal title of an
object.
* All correspondence, documents, and other materials pertaining to an
accessioned object.
* Accessioning and cataloguing data.
* Condition and conservation history.
* Insurance records.
* Current location and loan records.
* Deaccessioning information.

Duplicate copies of all essential records pertaining to QEMA’s
collections will be made and stored off Museum premises in a secure
and appropriate location.

Deaccessioning QEMA reserves the right to deaccession any object under any of the
following criteria:
* An object is no longer relevant within the collection, exhibition, or
research programs of QEMA.
* An object was acquired illegally or unethically.
* An object has failed to retain its physical integrity or authenticity and
cannot be properly preserved, stored, and used.
* For the purpose of upgrading QEMA’s collections and their care.

The public relations impact must be carefully assessed prior to the
approval of any deaccession.

Registration will continue to maintain all records pertaining to
deaccessioned objects.

Disposals Disposal of deaccessioned objects will be made by one of the following
means (listed in order of preference):
* Exchange with another museum or charitable institution.
* Donation to another museum or charitable institution.
* Sale to another museum or charitable institution.
* Sale at public auction outside QEMA’s immediate location without
listing of QEMA’s name or accession number.

Insofar as possible, deaccessioned objects should be disposed of in a
manner that keeps them in the public domain. A deaccessioned object
may be destroyed it is not salvageable or no longer of interest to any
party.

No member of the Board of Trustees, employee or volunteer, or their
representative or immediate families may be given, sold or otherwise
knowingly obtain deaccessioned objects. Deaccessioned objects may not
be directly sold to private individuals and corporations.

All monies realized from the sale of any object or collection will be used
by QEMA only to upgrade QEMA’s collections and their care,
preferably in the curatorial department from which the sold objects were
deaccessioned.

Loans QEMA may borrow objects from other museums, galleries, and private
sources for the purposes of exhibition, research, or public programming
and education. QEMA may also lend objects from its collections to
responsible institutions for the purposes of exhibition, research, or public
programming and education.
* All loans are subject to a formal written agreement between the
lender and the borrower, which ensures appropriate coverage of all
insurance obligations. The borrower will comply with all restrictions
and conditions imposed on borrowed objects.
* Loan agreements will specify the purpose and time period of the
loan.
* Loan agreements will address copyright and reproduction rights.

Date August 15, 2008
Approved
Amended August 16, 2008

Policy Review
Method Internal Report
Responsibility QEMA’s Board of Trustees
Minimum Frequency Every three years

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