A Deaccession Reader

by Stephen E. Weil

Although deaccessioning may be broadly accepted today within the museum community as an all-but routine (which is not to say simple) aspect of collections management, to much of the public it remains at odds with what people conceive the museum to be: a permanent repository, a great barrel of amber in which things--once dropped--will be forever preserved. When a museum purposes today to deaccession one or more significant objects from its collection, it is all but inevitable that a considerable degree of public discussion will follow. The museum that intents to deaccession must be will prepared for that discussion

257 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Tiffany]

This is a fine book to add to your library of books about collections, but it's old, so there are a lot of newer and more up-to-date resources out there. However, it does give nice samples, case studies, and things to think about when writing a deaccession policy or if your institution is considering the pros and cons of allowing deaccessioning.