[BCMA] Princeton Museum Requests Help

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Good answer Colin, but mostly I am impressed that it was sent via iphone.  J


Kirstin Clausen, Britannia Mine Museum

 

 

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com] On
Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 8:24 PM
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Princeton Museum Requests Help

 

If the collection is also owned by the Town, it can be placed under the
Town's insurance which can be less expensive than independent insurance.
They would want a total value and ideally a copy of the database as back-up
(this also gives the museum a back-up copy off site). The database should
have individual values for artifacts. This is a stumbling block for most
museums, but I did develop a technique for accomplishing it. 

 

Having values written down in advance before an insurance claim is highly
recommended whether it be for home or a museum. Trying to remember what
there was before a disaster and convince a cynical insurance adjuster of its
value after it has been destroyed.

 

A potential area of confusion is the word "appraisal". In museums it means
establishing a Fair Market Value (FMV) of artifacts, equipment, furnishings
etc. for insurance purposes. In archives however they have chosen to use the
word  " appraisal " to describe the culling process i.e. Determining what to
keep and what to throw away. 


If the collection is not owned by the town you have two options. 

1. Insure it via an insurance provider.

2. Chose not to insure the collection. 

 

The Museum Board should determine if the cost of insurance is affordable and
indeed worth it. The collection is in someways irreplaceable. What would you
do with the money in case if total loss for example? Go shopping in antique
stores for items with no provenance? Why? As long as you have a building,
you can fill it as donations that would come in. 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

Colin MacGregor Stevens

Museum Manager (retired)

Richmond,

British Columbia,

CANADA

 

 


On Sep 24, 2014, at 3:14 PM, "Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv."
<bcma at lists.vvv.com> wrote:

Dear Colleague:

I write to you today as a Director of the Princeton & District Museum &
Archives to ask for your assistance with some aspects of museum management.
Briefly, our Museum has undergone dramatic changes in structure and design,
and we are looking at parallel changes in our organization.

 The areas where we need help are in a job description and a model contract
for our manager, as well as questions as to the ownership and insurance of
our collection.

 Our building is owned by the Town and we are checking into whether the
physical building is insured.  What is the standard practice of other
museums regarding insurance of their collections?  Do other museums
typically insure their collections?  And if so, how are such collections
typically valued?

 Any help you could give us with these matters would be greatly appreciated.

 Jon Bartlett
Director, Princeton & District Museum & Archives

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