Deaccessioning

Deaccessioning is the process by which objects in the museum’s collection are removed from the collection and are made ready for disposal.  Disposal is the means by which the item(s) are physically removed from the museum.  It is a very important collections management activity.  There is a need to develop a deaccession policy and apply it correctly.  There are legal and ethical considerations in disposing of objects and the process must be clearly followed and traceable.

The museum may dispose of objects that have been deaccessioned or offered as unencumbered donations and do not meet the criteria of the museum’s interpretation and collection policies, and are therefore not to be acquired.  An object can be deaccessioned from the museum’s collection for the following reasons:

  • the object does not comply with the current collection policy of the organisation
  • the object is damaged beyond repair
  • the conservation and storage costs for it are beyond the means of the museum
  • it is a lesser quality duplicate of an object the museum already owns
  • it lacks any supporting information to enable proper identification or to establish its relevance to the collection
  • a substantial request for the return of the object to its original owner/donor is received. eg. request for a sacred object to be returned to Indigenous peoples

A formal procedure for deaccessioning objects should be established by the museum.  This should provide for the Acquisitions or the Management Committee of an organisation being asked to consider the deaccessioning proposal.

General principles
  • Procedures for the disposal of the deaccessioned object must be drawn up clearly
  • The identified object should be held for a pre-determined ‘cooling off’ period before disposal 
  • Museum staff and their families should not be able to benefit from a disposal 
  • There should be a clear indication in the museum’s policies of what should happen to any money received if a deaccessioned object is sold 

The most desirable outcome for a deaccessioned object is to return it to the donor or the donor’s family.  If this is not possible, then apply the following procedure:

  1. transfer the object to another appropriate community organisation (collecting organisation or school etc)
  2. keep the object as an research/educative/interpretive tool or prop
  3. sell the object – auction is the most ethical way of doing this as it ensures a fair market price and the museum is seen as not favouring any one person or organisation
  4. destroy the object as a last resort
Updating records
  1. Objects that meet the criteria and are considered appropriate for deaccessioning will be presented to the Museum Committee for endorsement and the result recorded in the committee’s minutes of meeting.
  2. When the deaccession is approved, the object’s Register entry, the Object Data Sheet and all other records will be amended with the date of deaccession, staff member’s initials, and a line drawn diagonally through the record.  “DEACCESSIONED” should be written diagonally across all paper records (e.g. classification cards) belonging to the object.  The object’s number will then be removed from it. Cards, data sheets and all records will at all times be retained by the museum.
  3. If the item goes to another organization record where it was sent and obtain a receipt.
References and further reading:

Heritage Collections Council, ReCollections at the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) website

National Standards for Australian Museums and Galleries

Museums and Galleries NSW, Online Resources, in particular Deaccessioning and disposal

Museums Australia Inc (NSW), Museum Methods, A Practical Manual for Managing Small Museums, Sections 3.14 Deaccession and disposal