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This is an email sent via the SHCG List. If you reply to this message, your message will be sent to all the people on the list, not just the author of this message. --------------- Thanks for all the contributions, which seem to add up to a mixed picture operationally, but a united picture philosophically. It seems that we all have to value collections, usually for insurance but sometimes as a part of our organisation's assets, and we use either 'repair' or 'sale' value for this. However, technically 'repair' is a liability and 'sale' an asset, which must confuse the accountants! 'Sale' value also implies that the 'market value' is the true value of the object, and we all know this isn't true. Last week I went to a very interesting conference 'Capturing the Public Value of Heritage' which explored this very issues, among others. The value of heritage assets include cultural value as well as economic value. Crudely put, cultural value includes the intrinsic/inspirational value of the item, its instrumental value in effecting economic and social change, and its bequest value [future generations will want to see it]. Various academics and thinktanks are working out how to quantify cultural value, but mainly for organisations and/or sites, not for objects. CABE Space are working on a similar problem to museums, as public parks are often seen to have no 'book value' because they can't be developed, but clearly they have a repair and a cultural value. There weren't many museum people at the conference, so if any one is interested in my notes, let me know and I'll email them to you individually, next week. Christine Christine Johnstone Principal Cultural Officer: History, City of Wakefield MDC Cultural Services Wakefield Museum, Wood St, Wakefield, WF1 2EW Tel: 01924 305350 Fax: 01924 305353 e-mail: [log in to unmask] web-site: www.wakefield.gov.uk/culture and www.wakefield.gov.uk/toys Exhibitions in the district: Bruce Bernard - Wakefield Art Gallery Discovering Ancient Egypt - Wakefield Museum Early European Paintings - Pontefract Museum For more details, click on www.wakefield.gov.uk/cultureandleisure/museums The WMDC Disclaimer can be found at: http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/SiteInformation/E-MailDisclaimer/default.htm The SHCG list is provided for members of Social History Curators Group to discuss subjects relevant to social history in museums. To join SHCG visit www.shcg.org.uk . Opinions expressed in this email are the responsibility of the author and are not necessarily shared by SHCG. To leave the list do not reply to this message but send an email to [log in to unmask] with a blank subject line and these words as the body of the email: SIGNOFF SHCG-LIST