This might actually be a better question for the ARCHIVES listserv. You
might want to subscribe there and post the question. I think you can
there through
http://www.archivists.org/listservs/index.asp#archives-archivists

That said, most institutions work from a "Deed of Gift". This is
clearly something that your friend should do now and make his / her
intentions clearly known in a will. In general, your friend may be able
to stipulate in the Deed of Gift that there are conditions on the gift
-- the trick is to get the institution to go along with those
conditions. If there is a lot of ephemera that is not seen as critical
to the collection, many archives will want to weed the collection of
that sort of material. So it will be absolutely critical to get the
stipulation into the Deed.

Its probably also important to get an appraisal of the collection for
tax purposes for the estate. The appraisal can also show an inventory
of all of the items so that provides an additional bit of evidence that
the collection was seen as a whole.

I think that your friend may also want to have a good sense of reality
and not be beholden to sentimental parts of the collection, in case
they run up against an institution that doesn't see the collection in
exactly the same way. It might be helpful to describe why the
collection was put together in the manner that it was so that a future
archivist or curator will understand all of the components.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

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