Dear Joanne and list

This is an interesting dilemma. In a personal capacity - not with my ARA hat on - I think we have some duty to respect the context in which a document has been created and presented, though not an absolute duty to retain accompanying frames etc., especially if the framing process includes acidic materials which could cause long-term damage to the original document.  I know of church collections which have included brass plaques and other items produced or created for display in churches, so this is not unique.

I think it would be acceptable for you to come to terms with the museum, so that your catalogue includes all the documents - and objects - you have taken in. Critically the record office is the point of receipt and the terms of donation/deposit should therefore be the record office ones.  If the Museum is prepared to accept the framed etc. items in their original storage formats and if you take digital copies so that those seeking access to the information they contain can do so easily, I see no harm to the integrity of the collection if the 'artefacts', as the Museum would see them, are transferred to their care. You might also wish to ensure that the digital record includes a picture of the items, as well as the information they contain.

Hopefully the museum will accept the storage of items it does not have absolute ownership of. Some museums don’t - and this might be an obstacle to what would otherwise be a sensible arrangement for you, the museum, and future customers of both services.

Dear All

I have just had a very interesting conversation with one of our curators regarding items that we have just received.  A church collection was taken in some weeks ago and as well as the usual minutes, accounts etc it includes framed rolls of honour, cradle rolls and photographs.  It also includes a brass roll of honour from the Church.

I was enquiring if it would be better for the brass item to go to the museum as this is more an item than an archive.  However on discussion the frames rolls of honour and cradle rolls would also be considered by museums as an item.  In fact there was some reticence at my suggestion that I was going to de-frame the items for preservation, storage and handling by the public.  The train of thought was that framed in their original frames they are an item that would have originally been displayed on the wall, by taking them out of the frame and turning them into a one dimensional item it is losing the context. 

This prompted a discussion about this area as I struggle to store and produce to the public bulky framed items but can see the value for display purposes of retaining it in its original frame.  The curator mentioned that if he had been offered the rolls of honour and cradle rolls he would have accepted them for the museum collection and he has a substantial collection of these as standalone items already.

I am interested in how other archives deal with these kinds of items, do you de-frame or not and why?  Do you have an agreement with your museum to store these kinds of things?  Are they ever requested for display by a local gallery? 

My thoughts wondered how we could make this situation a little less grey – although with modern electronic cataloguing systems does it matter who holds it?

I don’t feel comfortable splitting an archive collection even though we will struggle to store the oversize items with our current storage arrangements.  There is a thought that I could list all the items in the archive catalogue, take images and transcribe the information on it and make these available to the public – while passing the originals in the frames to the museum for storage and possible display. What are peoples thoughts on this?  

Many thanks in advance

Jo

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