FLMNH Collections Policy

Collections Policy

Policy as revised 19 December 1995.
Florida Statutes information updated 6 February 2003.

Contents

1. Purpose. Florida Statutes § 1004.56 requires the Florida Museum of Natural History to:

"...collect and maintain a depository of biological, archaeological, and ethnographic specimens and materials in sufficient numbers and quantities to provide within the state and region a base for research on the variety, evolution, and conservation of wild species; the composition, distribution, importance, and functioning of natural ecosystems; and the distribution of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites and an understanding of the aboriginal and early European cultures that occupied them." [see Appendix I]

This document reaffirms existing policies and explains administrative intent governing the acquisition, use, and disposition of those collections by the Florida Museum of Natural History and its staff, both herein after referred to as the Museum. The rules set forth in this policy statement:

Outline basic priorities for adding new objects to the collections.
Provide direction for acquisition of collections by the Museum, or by the University of Florida Foundation on behalf of the Museum.
Affirm that the highest ethical standards will be met by the Museum staff in all transactions, including avoidance of conflicts of interest.
Affirm that the Museum staff will comply with all domestic and foreign laws and regulations governing the collecting of objects, the transfer of ownership of those objects, and the movement of objects and collections across political boundaries
Assure that the standards of documentation for acquisitions shall equal or exceed those current in the respective scientific disciplines relating to particular collections.
Define the conditions of acceptance that may be placed upon objects to be acquired by the Museum or on its behalf.
Define the conditions and procedures for permanent removal of objects from the Museum collections.

These policies are concerned principally with the Museum's scientific archival research collections, herein after referred to as 'research collections', maintained by the two scientific departments. However, unless explicitly excluded below, these policies also apply to the smaller 'teaching collections' maintained by the Department of Interpretation, and to objects exhibited by the Department of Interpretation regardless of whether or not they are from the research collections, borrowed from outside sources, or specially purchased for the purpose.

The following definitions apply:

'Collection' is an assemblage of anthropological, archaeological, botanical, ethnographical, geological, paleontological, and zoological objects acquired, accessioned, and conserved because of their scientific and historic significance and educational value.
'Object' encompasses all collection materials, including, but not limited to, specimens, artifacts, articles, photographs, illustrations, drawings, archival and library materials, fieldnotes and records, and exhibits.
'Acquisition' involves all transactions by which title to incoming objects is transferred to the Florida Museum of Natural History or by which the objects come under the professional administrative and curatorial control of the Museum, and includes gifts, bequests, purchases, exchanges, and other transfers, in addition to collection by Museum staff.
'Disposition' involves all transactions by which title to outgoing objects is transferred from the Museum to another institution or individual, as well as disposal by intentional destruction.
'Accession' refers to the specific procedures that are followed in the preliminary logging of new objects into the Museums collections following acquisition.
'Deaccession' refers to the specific procedures that are followed in removing objects from the Museum's collections in preparation for disposition.
'Curation' embraces all aspects of professionally caring for the collections and the objects they contain, including, but not limited to, acquiring, accessioning, cataloging, maintaining, preserving, restoring, deaccessioning, and disposing of the collections, objects, fieldnotes, databases, and other associated records and documentation.

Note that acquisitions and dispositions do not include 'loans' or 'chain of custody evidence' both of which are the temporary transfer of collection objects to and from the museum without a change of ownership (see '23. Incoming Loans' and '24. Outgoing Loans' below).

Identifying mollusk specimens.

2.ACQUISITIONS.

3.Museum Collections. Just as libraries are archives of printed and recorded materials, museums are archives of objects; art museums are archives for paintings, sculpture and other art objects, historical museums are archives for historical objects, and natural history museums are archives for anthropological, botanical, ethnographical, geological, paleontological, and zoological objects and their associated scientific records. The natural history collections mandated by Florida Statutes § 1004.56 are maintained by the Museum's departments of Anthropology and Natural Sciences. These research collections, organized by scientific discipline and preservation requirements, emphasize Florida and the circum- Caribbean region, and range from intensive coverage of this geographic area, its biotic groups and cultures, to extensive coverage of a world biota and broad cultural areas. The Museum's collections combine elements of both intensive and extensive coverage. The former are useful in detailed research efforts such as monographs and area studies, while the latter enable broadly comparative studies, significantly aid identification services and environmental studies, and provide maximum flexibility in selecting exhibit materials. Overspecialization in a collection tends to restrict the choice of new staff to those interested in the special area, while over diversification may result in an inadequate base for effective research use.

These collections form a basis for the continuing reappraisal of our knowledge of the past, present, and future. Original scientific research, based upon the research collections, is carried out by members of the Museum's Anthropology and Natural Sciences staff, by scholars throughout the world, and by independent researchers working at the Museum. Identification services for non-specialists, teaching undergraduate and graduate training uses, and similar activities are an everyday part of the collection uses.

In addition to the research collections, the Museum maintains smaller teaching collections, usually of objects with lesser scientific value, and at any given time, a small portion of the research collections, supplemented by specially purchased or loaned objects, is on public display in the exhibits prepared by the Department of Interpretation. Our knowledge about people and nature is explained to the public by the Museum's Department of Interpretation through exhibits, lectures, multimedia and other appropriate methods. Such explanations depend on carefully selected objects from the research collections coupled with the knowledge and expertise supplied by the scientific staff.

Thus the Museum's policies toward its collections bear directly on its continuing ability to influence and support both the scientific community through research and educational activities and the lay community through education.

4. How Natural History Objects and Collections are Acquired. Under Florida Statutes § 1004.56, the Museum is empowered to "...accept, preserve, maintain, or dispose of the specimens and materials..." to build its research collections. Many of the objects are collected by the Museum staff in the course of their research in the field. The title to objects collected by full time Museum staff, or part-time employees during their regular working hours, or with state funding, or as part of their regular job assignment, or collected on Museum sponsored field trips, is vested in the Museum. Permits for collecting specimens in foreign countries specify which of the specimens belong to the Museum and which must remain in, or be returned to, an institution or agency in the country of origin. Most federal research grants and contracts to the Museum also provide for the objects collected by Museum staff to be placed in the Museum. Under Florida Statutes § 1004.57, title to vertebrate fossils collected on state-owned lands is vested in the Museum (see Appendix II). Archaeological and botanical collections are an exception under state law. The landowner retains title to archaeological and botanical collections made on private lands, and as provided under FS § 267.12(3) the title to archaeological objects from state lands is vested in the Division of Archives, History, and Records Management of the Department of State (see Appendix III). A number of federal laws provide that the title to objects collected on federal lands and/or under federal jurisdiction is vested in the U.S. government or in the responsible federal agency though the curation of the objects may be assigned to a public research collection such as the Museum. In addition, the Museum and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior signed a formal agreement to cooperate in research and conservation of biodiversity and the national fauna and flora, including collecting and collections. However, acquisition can also occur through purchase, donation, bequest, or exchange of objects from individuals, private companies, other museums, or research institutions outside the Museum. Acquisition from such outside sources can occur in two ways:

Direct acquisition by the Florida Museum of Natural History or by the State of Florida for the Museum.
Acquisition by the University of Florida Foundation, Inc. for the Museum.

Many of the Museum's research collections have scientific value far greater than their economic value. Many of the objects in the collections are scientifically irreplaceable. The Museum's collections and objects in the collections are owned by the State of Florida with the title vested in the Museum (see Appendix I). However, the Museum may receive by gift some object, e.g., a building or parcel of land, which has an economic value that exceeds its scientific value. Such objects can be acquired by the University of Florida Foundation on behalf of the Museum and treated as assets to be sold at some future date to benefit a Museum program. The UF Foundation is an independent not for profit corporation that is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Code. The UF Foundation's assets are managed by the Foundation's staff and financial advisors under the direction of its Board of Directors.

Objects and collections that are to become part of the research collections should be acquired directly by the Florida Museum of Natural History for the State of Florida.
Objects and collections, or other assets that may be sold in the future should be acquired by the University of Florida Foundation on behalf of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Objects or collections that are to become part of the research collections, but which can only be acquired through purchase, should be acquired by the University of Florida Foundation.

The Foundation can make acquisitions only after approval by the Director and Department Chairman in consultation with the designated curator in charge.

Weedon Island pottery shards in the Florida Pottery Type Collection.

5. Priorities for Acquisition. Although the present collections are of international significance and are used in research, identification services, and educational activities, all of the collections can be improved by selective addition of new objects.

It is equally clear that the Museum cannot engage in indiscriminate acquisition. The diversity of nature, including human culture and artifacts, is so extraordinarily large that physical space limitations alone make comprehensive collecting impossible. The financial aspects of fulfilling the Museums continuing obligation to preserve, maintain, and use representative samples of the universe limits our acquisition capabilities. Consequently, a schedule of priorities for new acquisitions has been adopted. For similar reasons, consideration must be given to policies covering disposition of objects that may no longer be appropriate or necessary for the Museum's areas of interest.

First Priority. To strengthen collection areas in which the Museum has a current specialization and recognized historical interest, especially when these areas are threatened irreversibly by human activities. Examples of primary priority acquisitions are objects of direct use in present or projected research or in current educational or exhibition programs; high quality objects needed to fill gaps in the current holdings or to supplement objects of lesser quality; objects from cultures, biotas, and geologic strata where technological changes and expanding human activity place a time limit on the period in which sampling can take place.

Second Priority. To broaden the comparative base of our established collection areas. Examples of secondary priority acquisitions are archival objects such as voucher objects for published research; synoptic objects from specialists; objects that will strengthen a collection in a subject area related to a previously established one.

Third Priority. To obtain collections of a general nature that are within the broad interests of the Museum. Examples of tertiary priority acquisitions are interesting or unique, but adequately documented, objects of limited use in a scientific sense; objects outside the scope of current Museum research collections, but that might in the future have direct use in explaining more fully the diversity of nature and culture to the lay public.

It is recognized that acquisition of objects often must be opportunistic. From time to time, collections of recognized national or international significance become available from individuals or institutions that no longer are able or willing to preserve, maintain, and use them in research and educational activities. Acceptance of responsibilities for such collections may involve establishing a new area of interest within the Museum. Acquisition of such collections must be judged on their individual merits, carefully weighing the values and costs of such additions against the evolving programs and emphases of the Museum (see '11. Accessioning Acquisitions' below).

Vertebrate fossil preparation laboratory.

6. Ethics of Acquisition. All acquisitions by the Museum staff shall reflect its commitment to preserve and guard the living and cultural heritage of the earth. Objects that have been collected recently in such a careless manner as to impair their scientific value shall not be accepted, e.g., archaeological and geological objects taken without proper recording of stratigraphic and site data, or biological objects with inadequate documentation.

Biological collections involving unnecessary decimation of populations with limited numbers of individuals or a tenuous existence shall not knowingly be made by staff or accepted by the Museum from others.

Anthropological collections originate from past and present human societies and offer an unparalleled research potential for examination of human biological and cultural evolution. They also form a highly sensitive collection which may be viewed from a wide variety of individual and collective belief systems. Any acquisition of native American remains or cultural objects must be in full compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (see 8. 'Conditions of Acceptance' below). These diverse perspectives affect the ethical concerns evoked at all levels of curation from acquisition through collections management to deaccessioning. Wherever possible, the ethics surrounding a collection in the culture of origin will be taken into consideration in the evaluation and management of anthropological materials.

7. Laws Governing Acquisition. Archaeological, ethnographic, or biotic objects will be acquired only when they have been collected, exported, possessed, 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 individual states within the United States. The Museum will also refuse to acquire objects in any case where it has cause to believe that the circumstances of their collection involved the recent unscientific or intentional destruction of sites or monuments, or where state or federal laws or international treaties have been violated. These standards also will be taken into account in determining whether to accept loans for exhibition or other purposes. Reasonable efforts will be made to ensure that these conditions are met, that title to the object or objects may properly be transferred to the Museum, and that the Museum keeps up to date on the changing laws and regulations concerning object collecting, ownership, and movement across political boundaries. The Museum will cooperate with authorities of the United States and other countries in legal action against those committing improprieties.

In an attempt to avoid encouraging, even indirectly, trade in illicit or irresponsibly recovered objects, the Museum will not authenticate any object whose acquisition does not meet the Museum's own criteria for acquisition. In addition, if the Museum should inadvertently acquire an object that is later determined to have been exported or recovered in violation of the Museum's acquisition policy, the Museum will promptly return the object to the owner or transferor, or to the government of the country of origin, or to another appropriate recipient.

Hutia specimens in the mammal collection.

8. Conditions of Acceptance. With very few exceptions, all acquisitions are unconditional. The Museum normally cannot accept objects on which the owner has placed restrictions that would prevent effective research examination, normal exhibition use, loan, or disposal in accordance with this established policy. The Museum also cannot accept objects with restrictions requiring that they be placed on exhibition, or that the collection of which they form a part should be kept together permanently and/or displayed only as a discrete collection. Under extraordinary circumstances, objects can be accepted with the requirement that the Museum retain ownership for a negotiated period of time.

Anthropological collections, particularly those covered by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), form an area where certain exceptions may be considered in consultation, not with the donor, but with the tribe which is culturally affiliated with the collections in question.

9. Standards of Documentation. Minimum requirements of documentation, including provenience, vary in the various research collections. Such standards are necessary requisites for objects to be added to the research collections. We cannot afford permanently to house objects lacking scientific value. Objects with less than complete data, but having scientific or educational value, may be accessioned at the discretion of the curator in charge.

10. Appraisal and Authentication of Acquisitions. No member of the Museum staff shall, in his or her official capacity, give appraisals for the purpose of establishing the tax deductible value of gifts or purchases offered to the Museum. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service prohibits appraisals from a recipient institution that is directly involved in the transaction. Only appraisals from disinterested third parties are accepted. No member of the Museum staff knowingly shall appraise, identify, or otherwise authenticate natural history objects or cultural objects for other persons or agencies under circumstances that could encourage or benefit illegal, unethical, or irresponsible traffic in such objects. Identification and authentication may be given for professional or educational purposes and in compliance with the legitimate requests of professional or governmental bodies or their agencies. Where appropriate, the Museum will assist owners in finding qualified professionals who can provide appraisals.

Top of Page | Next Page >> | Appendixes > >