Collection Management Policy
University of Northern Iowa Museum
The Collection Management Policy establishes policy for the acquisitions, loans, deaccessions, and other collection management issues. It affirms that the University of Northern Iowa Museum (UNIM) shall be in full compliance with laws and regulations, both domestic and international, governing the transfer of ownership of objects and their movements across political boundaries: and that it shall continue to meet the highest ethical standards in all transactions. The Collection Policy is available upon request and will be provided to current and future donors to the UNIM.
Through this Collection Management Policy, UNIM ensures that:
- Its collection are accounted for and documented;
- Its collection are protected, secured, cared for, and preserved;
- Acquisition, deaccessioning, and loans of objects are conducted in a manner that conforms to the Museum’s mission, complies with applicable law, and reflects the highest ethical standards
- Access to the collections for student and research use is permitted and appropriately regulated
The UNI Museum serves as an educational facility for museology and seeks to inspire critical thinking about world cultures and history through original research, innovative technologies, educational programming, and exhibits. Through the use of material culture, the museum encourages multi-disciplinary learning opportunities to foster student and community engagement resulting in a deep appreciation of diverse cultural groups.
Primary Objectives:
- Serve as an educational/training facility
- Provide open access to the collection for educational purposes to all people
- Interpret the collections to aid in the public’s understanding of diverse cultures
- Adhere to the highest level of professional practices and ethics
- Enhance the collection through acquisition and deaccessioning to correlate to organizational collection policy
- Work directly with diverse cultures when curating and researching collections and exhibits
Founded in 1892, the UNIM was established to serve the student and faculty needs of the campus community and the public interests of the citizens of Cedar Falls. Museum collections were actively used in public programming and University student research and teaching. The collections are both global, consisting of over 110,000 anthropological, biological, geological, and historical artifacts from across the world, and local, representing the University of Northern Iowa, The state of Iowa, and Midwest history. Collecting began in the late 1880’s as science faculty on campus gathered objects as teaching aids. The early collections focused on natural history collections of biological and paleontological specimens but were expanded upon in the 1930’s to include anthropological materials and historical collections in the 1940’s. In 1997, the UNIM acquired the Marshall Center School which increased the collecting of education history materials. The museum closed to the public to restructure and move the collections in 2012 when it came under the administration of the Rod Library. New collections storage, exhibit space, education rooms, and offices were constructed on the first floor of the library in an effort to increase access for UNI students and faculty.
The UNIM currently holds five types of primary collections: anthropology, history, art, geology, and Iowa rural schools. In addition to this, an education collection that aligns with the permanent collection was curated for use in interactive learning.
In 1991, the UNI Academic Affairs Council instituted a policy giving the UNI Museums specific responsibilities with respect to the campus departmental teaching collections. While the academic departments with such collections would maintain ownership, they would work in cooperation with the UNI Museums for the documentation, preservation, and use of these collections. As part of that collaborative relationship,
- The UNI Museum maintains, through the Collection Management Policy, appropriate methodology for the acceptance, preservation, use, and disposition of objects held in departmental collections.
- The UNI Museum is responsible for setting documentation standards for all campus collections, in order to facilitate the campus-wide accessibility to uniform information on all collections.
- All gifts and deaccessions of material culture, historical artifacts, and natural specimens are to be channeled through the UNI Museum for determination of appropriate object disposition, for the legal transfer of ownership, and for compliance with all IRS regulations and national and international laws concerning cultural, biological, and geological objects.
- The UNI Museum provides all departments with advice and assistance in methods of collections management.
University Wide Collections Management Policy
- In 1990, museum staff successfully instituted a campus wide collections management policy that established that all collections on campus should be cataloged into the museum’s collections database and that “the museum should give guidance over collection management such as accession, deaccessions, object treatments, exhibits, etc.”
- This policy was revisited in 2017 and approved by the Dean’s Council and the UNI Provost. This policy charges the museum to work with campus partners to better manage and maintain campus collections while maintaining ethical policies and practices.
On all matters of collection policy, UNIM is committed to upholding the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import and Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970) and complying with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990). The Museum Director will oversee all matters related to these policies. Objects must meet all regulations established by UNESCO as related to the illicit trade of Nazi and stolen artwork.
All museum staff, students, and researchers must abide by this policy. The ultimate responsibility for this policy rests with the museum director
- Appraisals
- No museum employee may offer appraisals to a donor
- Museum employees may suggest several qualified appraisers. More than one name must be given with no preference for one given.
- Collections Committee
Primary Purpose:
The Collections Committee will serve to enforce the collections policy in all deaccessions of museum property (Excluding the Center for Rural Schools, internal transfers, & NAGPRA & UNESCO based objects, or objects that pose an immediate risk to staff and collections )
The committee has the power to deaccession objects that no longer meet the mission statement of the museum, is redundant, has deteriorated beyond usefulness, or is found to be legal property of another entity, etc.
The Committee
The committee will be made up of five members:
- Director & Curator
- President Friends of the UNI Museum
- UNI Gallery of Art Director
- Associate University Librarian
- UNI Faculty Member (Non-Rod Library)
The committee, guided especially by members whose training and knowledge embrace the objects under discussion, will implement the collections policy. Because of this, members who have provided formal appraisals of artifacts for commercial/tax purposes within the last 60 months, or who are currently providing such information will not be allowed to sit on the committee. If a member leaves, the director will appoint someone to the position.
Official Voting
Museum staff will create online spreadsheets listing all objects being requested for deaccession along with a reason behind the request. All committee members will be given a chance to ask questions and examine the collection before the final vote is made. A majority vote must be reached for approval. In order to keep an accurate record of what the committee decides, all votes will be done digitally and kept in the museum records.
- The curator will create lists of items that it proposes for deaccession including:
- Object Number & Name
- Reason for deaccession
- Areas for committee members to ask questions
- Voting boxes for all members
- Committee members will have two weeks from the release of the list to ask questions, request a meeting to see the items, and give final vote. A simple majority vote will determine if a collection/object is approved.
- Museum staff will be required to answer all questions within that week, meet with those who want to see the collections, and adhere to the decision made by the group.
- If a member of the committee does not vote, it will be considered to be abstained.
Disposal
Museum staff will follow campus policy after the object is approved for deaccession.
Personal Collections
- The UNIM does understand that staff may and do hold personal collections. The Museum’s employees, especially those closely associated with the museum’s curatorial functions, must exercise care to assure that no conflict of interest can arise between themselves and the museum.
- Employees must put the museum ahead of their own interest in acquiring an object.
- Employees must bring the availability of the object to the attention of the object to their supervisor and allow the museum the first opportunity to purchase the item.
- If the object must be purchased immediately, the employee must offer the object to the museum at cost within a reasonable time (Not to exceed one month)
Gifts to Staff
- Any museum employee must receive written consent of their supervisor prior to accepting any gift from a person engaged in a museum-related activity. (Donor, Dealer, Trustee, Collector, Etc.)
Acquisitions include bequests, gifts, field collections, purchases, exchanges and any other transactions by which title to incoming material passes to UNIM. Once acquired, objects may be accessioned into (formally accepted by and recorded) the collection. Objects accessioned into the collections must be deaccessioned following policies outlined in Section VIII. Objects acquired by the UNIM but not accessioned into the collection may be transferred, exchanged, sold, or other disposed without the formal process of deaccessioning in ways consistent with its mission, ethical standards of the museum field and relevant disciplines. The collection must not have any conditions attached to the acquisitions and the Collections Committee will decide whether or not to accession the object.
The UNI Museum only acquires objects for their permanent collection which supports their mission. All objects should be in an acceptable state of preservation. By accepting, it is implied that the UNIM will provide for the storage and preservation of the objects under terms that insure their availability for students and researchers while keeping with professionally accepted standards.
The UNIM is committed to the principle that all collecting be done according to the highest standards of ethical and professional practice.
Procedures for Accepting Gifts or Bequests
All objects/collections up for acquisition will be physically brought into the museum as a short term loan for evaluation. The donor will be asked to provide all provenances of the collection for staff evaluation.
Museum staff will research the object/collection to ensure there are no duplicates in the UNIM collection, ensure the legality of the collection, and to research the history to ensure it meets the museum mission. If it passes these checks, the collection will be formally accepted by the museum.
Museum staff will write a formal thank you letter acknowledging the acceptance of the object/collection into the museum. This letter will be sent out with a formal donation form to transfer ownership to the UNIM. Any loaned material not collected by the donor after a year of written notice will be considered abandoned property via Iowa Code Chapter 305B and will be removed from the collection in adherence with this collection policy under section VIII.
Conditions of Acquisition
Title to all objects must be free and clear with all rights of reproduction given to the UNIM.
The UNIM will not acquire such objects:
- Collections with restrictions that prevent effective research examination, normal exhibition use, loan, or disposal in accordance with this document.
- Collections with conditions that they be placed on long term/permanent loan or exhibition
- Collections with conditions that dictate or restrict the display of the collection.
- Objects that violate NAGPRA or UNESCO
- In the interest of conserving cultural heritage, including archeological sites, gaining scientific information, and preserving the prehistoric past, UNIM will not knowingly acquire materials that have been illegally excavated, nor will it support, in any way, markets in illegally trafficked antiquities. Objects shall be acquired only when UNIM has determined to the best of its ability that they have been collected, exported, and imported in full compliance with the laws and regulations of the country or countries of origin, of the federal government of the United States, and of the pertinent individual states within the United States. UNIM shall not acquire objects which it has reason to believe have been unethically collected or alienated from their society of origin (even when not in contravention of the relevant formal laws). As a museum with anthropology collections, UNIM will work with representatives of ethnic groups for advice on the use of objects.
Appraisals and Authentications
No UNIM employee or Collection Committee member shall give appraisals to establish the tax-deductible value or gifts offered to UNIM, nor shall they identify or otherwise authenticate for persons or agencies cultural artifacts under circumstances that could encourage or benefit illegal, unethical, or irresponsible traffic in such materials, or when there is reason to believe such identifications will be used primarily for commercial purposes. Identification, authentication, and evaluation (but not monetary appraisals) may be given for scientific or educational purposes or in compliance with the legitimate requests of governmental bodies of their agents. Monetary appraisals of objects in the UNIM collections may be made by staff for purposes of loans, insurance, and other purposes related to museum functions.
Accession Records
Complete documentation of all collections work (acquisitions, loans, exhibits, research, and deaccessions) will be maintained to document the institutional history of the museum for future use.
- The Curator is responsible for accurate accession and donor records, and for securing all documentation relevant to particular accessions, especially relating to provenance.
- Collection records shall be maintained by the UNI Museum. Originals of all collection documents, both paper and electronic, shall reside in the UNIM.
- Copies of policies adopted and followed by the UNIM will be made public on multiple platforms including the museum’s webpage and provided to all donors, lenders, borrowers and other responsible persons upon request.
Field Collections
The UNIM encourages field research and will accept documented collections generated from the research goals of scholars, faculty, and students.
Purchases
The UNIM may purchase material to support the museum’s mission and when similar objects are not available by donation or exchange.
The UNIM acts as a custodian of materials for the broader benefits of humanity. As the museum develops, it may be determined that objects need to be permanently removed from the collection which are deemed inappropriate due to the various listed below, also known as deaccessioning. Deaccessions are also used to improve the quality of the collection making it a coherent research tool.
Deaccession Policy
Purpose
Deaccession of materials, objects, and groups of objects from the collection shall be undertaken only as a way of strengthening and benefiting the UNI Museum. Deaccessioning shall not be done to generate funds to support the museum or university.
Criteria
- Object/collection no longer meets the mission of the UNI Museum
- Object is redundant or is a duplicate and is not necessary for research or study purposes
- Object is of lesser quality than other objects of the same type of the collection
- Object lacks sufficient historical, educational, or scientific importance to warrant retention
- Object has deteriorated beyond its usefulness
- Museum is unable to preserve the object in a responsible manner
- Object poses a risk to other collections, staff, or students
- Museum is ordered to return an object to its original and rightful owner by a court of law
- Object is found to be the legal property of another entity
Procedures
- Objects will be recommended by the Curator for deaccession and disposal suggestions
- A simple majority vote from the collections committee will approve the deaccession.
- Curator shall take appropriate action and proceed with disposal.
Disposal
- Purpose - To Transfer, destroy, or remove collections from the museum.
Options for Disposal
- Disposal as Gift: An object may be disposed of as a gift to a more appropriate state, scientific, educational, or cultural institution serving the larger public good. Because UNI is a state agency, priority will be given to other state agencies.
- Disposal as Repatriation: To comply with NAGPRA and UNESCO it may be necessary to deaccession objects from the collection and repatriate them to the rightful owners according to that law. Under some situations, it might be appropriate for the UNIM to house these deaccessioned materials to better care for them during the duration of their life.
- Disposal as Sale: Objects no longer needed for research, education, or exhibition, or marginal to the mission, may be sold at the UNI public surplus. Sales shall be conducted in an open and public manner that meets the University and State requirements and the money will be reserved for caring for the collections or purchasing additional objects No UNI Museum staff, collections committee members, or family members of these groups shall purchase deaccessioned objects. All revenue, no matter the amount, shall be placed in the UNI Foundation Account (Museum-Anthropology - 220089).
- Disposal through Internal Transfer: Objects may be deaccessioned from the collection and be relocated to the education collection, archives, or other UNI departments to continue their educational purpose. The Curator will outline the procedures for such transfers and the Collections Committee will decide all such transfers.
- Disposal by Destruction: Objects may be deaccessioned if they have reached an extreme point of deterioration or pose a threat to other objects in the collection. Collections that meet this criterion, and are approved by the Collections Committee, must be incinerated. Collections should not be buried or discarded in a way that might alter the local archeological sample.
Deaccession/Disposal Ethical Guidelines
- Newly donated objects (Under 2 Years) cannot be deaccessioned for any reason unless the pose a risk to the collection
- Collections should not be acquired for the purpose of resale
- Objects found to pose a risk to other object may be removed an any time
- If a restriction exists, the museum shall observe these conditions strictly unless deviation is authorized through legal proceedings. The museum shall seek the advice of UNI legal counsel involving these restrictions.
Loans, outgoing and incoming, are temporary physical transfers of objects to or from the UNIM that do not involve a change in ownership. The UNI Museum will lend artifacts from its collections for exhibit or research purposes to any corporation or institution with educational or research purposes, which will provide adequate care and security for the material. No loans will be made directly to individuals.. The Curator will provide procedures to all institutions inquiring about loans. Appropriate loan forms shall prescribe the procedure for outgoing and incoming loans. A complete record of loan transactions shall be maintained by the UNIM.
Incoming Temporary Loans
Incoming loans from private collectors or collecting institutions are made on a temporary basis, the terms of which will not exceed one year. The term will be predetermined by both parties and may be renewed at the end of each year with the approval of the Museum Director and object lender.
- The following criteria shall govern the availability of objects for incoming loans:
- Only accepted for the purpose of exhibition, donation, and research at the UNIM
- No indefinite, permanent, or long-term loans shall be accepted
- UNIM will not store objects that are not used in research, donation, or exhibits
- At the expiration of the loan, the UNIM will return the material per the lender’s instructions. If it is not reclaimed, the UNIM will proceed according to the State of Iowa law regarding abandoned property
- Section VIII.4.2 regarding legal and ethical acquisition policy shall be applied to all incoming loans.
- Condition reports of incoming loans must be completed upon being received by the UNIM.
- The State of Iowa carries no liability insurance and cannot be held liable for any loss or damage unless special insurance covered has been obtained at the discretion of the Director
- UNIM shall respect all loaned materials. They shall not be cleaned, repaired, or altered in any way without written permission from the lender.
- If the UNIM decides to terminate the loan early, the owner will receive written notification and a schedule will be established to return the loaned object. Objects must be returned within 14 days of notice.
- Incoming loans may be recalled by the lender, prior to loan termination date, by giving written notice 14 days prior to the withdrawal.
- UNIM will give all borrowed objects with the same care it gives its own collections.
Outgoing Temporary Loans
All outgoing loans from UNIM are made on a temporary basis, the term of which is not to exceed one year. The term will be predetermined by both parties and may be renewed yearly with the approval of the Collections Committee and the borrowing agency.
- The following criteria shall govern the availability of all outgoing loans:
- Borrowing agencies must be a bona fide scientific, public, and/or educational institution and must provide an AAM standard facilities report.
- Objects shall not be removed from exhibition at the UNIM for temporary exhibit elsewhere.
- Objects shall not be loaned if they are of such importance, rarity, and/or fragility that they must not be exposed to any danger or loss by removal from the museum as deemed by the Director.
- All loans shall be subject to the following regulations, and no loans shall be made where these rules are not adhered to:
- Borrower must insure the objects to the full amount specified by the UNIM, door to door, with the best available coverage, and provide a certificate of insurance.
- Borrowers must arrange and pay for shipping/transport in both directions, by methods approved by the UNIM.
- Objects placed on public exhibition must be in locked or secured cases, or displayed in a way that provides maximum security for large objects that don’t fit in a case.
- Only adequately trained personnel shall be permitted to handle, move, or pack objects.
- The borrower shall exercise care at all times to ensure safe handling and keeping of objects. As much care must be taken in installing and dismantling exhibits in which objects appear.
- No objects may be cleaned, repaired, altered, embellished, modified, or dismantled in any way without written permission of the UNIM. No pins, nails, or other supports may be used that leave any marks or evidence of use on an object.
- The borrower shall protect the loan from all causes of degradation such as airborne dust and dirt, improper levels of light and ultraviolet radiation, harmful gasses, improper levels of relative humidity and temperatures, damaging organisms (vermin, insects, bacteria, and mold), fire, theft, and vandalism. The borrower shall be responsible for any and all loss or damage to the property of the UNIM that is in the custody and control of the borrower.
- Any damages, whether in transit or on the borrower’s premises and regardless of who may be responsible, shall be reported immediately to the UNIM.
- Borrowed objects may not be used for any commercial purpose whatever without specific permission in writing from UNIM
- No objects may be re-loaned by a borrower without permission of UNIM
- If the UNIM chooses to terminate the loan agreement prior to the specified expiration, 14 days written notice to the borrower shall be given, and the borrower shall return the requested materials.
- Packing for return shipping must be in the same manner as, equivalent to, or better than the original packing
- UNIM may require that loans be accompanied by an UNIM staff member both outgoing and incoming, and that unpacking, mounting, dismounting, and repacking be done under supervision of a staff member of the UNIM, at borrower’s expense.
- UNIM reserves the right to ask a per item loan fee to commensurate with the cost of preparing and providing objects from its collection for the loan and conserving objects loaned. In each such case, the fee shall be part of the loan agreement.
The UNIM, through its curatorial, registrar and exhibit departments, shall maintain accurate, up-to-date records on the identification, location, and condition of all objects in the collections. The museum staff is responsible for the updating of information in the database system. It shall also implement a program of preventative care of the collections while they are under the stewardship of the University of Northern Iowa. All professional standards for ethical treatment, environmental control, security, exhibit, and storage shall be executed by all members of staff without exception.
- Storage
- Archival storage systems and supplies shall be utilized at all times
- Training must be done before anyone is allowed to work with collections
- Security
- Access to the collection storage and objects on exhibit are limited only to trained staff and those hired to assist them. Student groups may be brought into the space if supervised by a staff member and the class is scheduled a week ahead of time.
- Collection storage will remain locked at all times
- Objects on display must be kept in secure enclosures or mounted in a way that prevents any danger or threat to an object.
- Facility security and fire systems will be employed and maintained constantly.
- An emergency plan shall be maintained and updated yearly. All staff and students shall be trained in emergency procedures.
- Environment / Conservation / Preservation
- The exhibit and storage environment will be monitored routinely and kept to professional standards
- Objects will be mounted so as to ensure their physical integrity
- Cultural objects will always be exhibited/stored in a respectful manner, maintaining their cultural dignity. The UNIM will work with native communities when possible and ask for recommendations on how to exhibit/store this material culture.
- The Curator will make monthly inspections of the exhibits and collections to ensure stability is maintained and will recommend repairs.
- Repairs to an object must be done by a trained staff member or conservator only. Objects on loan from another institution must get written approval to be repaired first.
- Records
- All records shall be maintained accurately regarding the identification, location and condition of all objects in the collection.
- Files must be available for all staff and researchers to use including deaccessioned and educational materials.
- Curatorial staff is responsible for updating and maintaining records for the collections and administering records to ensure donor security and privacy is maintained.
- All records created are legal property of the museum and must be maintained in both physical and digital formats.
It is fundamental to the UNIM mission to provide access to the collections and promote appreciation of its significance to the university. Because of this, all responsible parties shall have access to the collections for legitimate research and study. These parties will be subject to procedures necessary to safeguard the collections and to the limitations of normal opening hours, exhibition requirements, available study space, and staff time.
- The safety of the collections is the primary concern – Access can be limited if an argument can be made for an object's safety. In this situation, the UNIM will make efforts to provide alternative means to view the object including digital photographs and/or scans.
- Individuals requesting access to the acquisitions records or collections must state in writing the purpose of their inquiries. Access shall be limited to legitimate scholarly and legal inquiry. The staff is under no obligation to facilitate searches that, in their judgment, may be primarily for purposes of monetary gain.
- Requests for anonymity by donors will be honored, but only if this does not obscure the provenience of objects.
- Costs of reproducing documentary materials or photographs of collections may be charged to applicants. No distinctions in such charges shall be made on the basis of the value or rarity of the original materials. Methods of reproduction may be limited if necessary to protect the originals from possible damage.
- Royalties or reproduction fees may be charged where deemed appropriate by the Curator.
- Except as specified above and as necessary to maintain the State of Iowa’s property rights, the UNIM shall not restrict publication of their materials for any non-commercial, scholarly or educational purposes.