Kerry - 

In addition to the responses given to you by Stephen and Glenn, you
might think about the Surrey Museum as the official repository for your
artifacts.  The Surrey Archives will have primary responsibility for
municipal records appraised as archival through the scheduling process,
and while it may have a secondary interest in private manuscripts
related to Surrey and environs, artifacts are the domain of the Museum.
Given that the Surrey Museum is municipally funded and part of your
Parks and Recreation Department, making it the final resting place for
three dimensional objects (aka artifacts) as part of the policy
described by Glenn keeps these gifts in public hands.  Your curatorial
staff will then appraise the transfer to see if it fits in with the
Museum's Acquisitions Policy, and any deaccessioning will be undertaken
away from the Mayor's Office with a minimum of offense to the donor.
For those items added to the Museum's collection, you can inform the
donor that their gift was so important as to warrant appropriate
preservation in the municipal museum.  

I note with interest that a new Surrey Museum facility was just opened
this past October...so you can rightfully crow about donations being in
a state-of-the-art museum facility.

And just to put a drop of relevance in for the list, you might want to
ensure that your records center and archival facilities are likewise
adequately funded and state-of-the-art (I don't know enough about Surrey
to comment, but many Canadian cities have had an ongoing battle between
the management of recorded information/documentary heritage and culture
for culture's sake).

Cheers!

Mark

G. Mark Walsh, C.A.
Records & Information Analyst
Archival & Records Management Services
Library of Virginia
(804) 692-3650

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Miller, Kerry
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 7:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Archives and Artefacts

Good afternoon,

I am the manager of the mayor's office in the City of Surrey, BC,
Canada.  We have a small room which has historically been used to house
gifts and artefacts donated to the city, as well as the more recent
additions of a paper shredder, computer printer, coat rack, a library of
sorts, extra furniture... I'm sure you get the picture.  Did I mention
the room is really small?

My problem is arranging to remove and dispose of the less historically
valuable items.  I can't find a city policy which deals directly with
artefacts, only documents, and no support or ideas forthcoming from the
city clerk's office.  I am aware though, of previously accessioned works
of art being deaccessioned and sold through auction, but I don't think
that's they way to go in this case.

None of the gifts were officially accessioned, and I've been told that
they therefore cannot be deaccessioned.  We have no record of where,
when or from whom the gifts originated.  

Our city's archivist has indicated that he will take only those items
which can be readily identified as having some historic or cultural
value.  That leaves me with items to dispose of.  I have concerns about
a previous donor contacting us to borrow an item back for an occasion,
only to hear that we've thrown it out.

Can someone on the list provide some advice?  

Many thanks.

K. Miller, Manager
Offices of the Mayor and Council
604-591-4301
ps  I was a lurker for quite some time before I unsubscribed in 2005,
and now that I'm back on board, I am looking forward to being more
involved.  


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