Collections Colleague Circle: Old Loans & Other Ownership Tangles

Collections Colleague Circle

Monday, November 9, 10 am - noon, Litchfield Historical Society

The first meeting of CLHO’s Collections Colleague Circle will take place at the Litchfield Historical Society on Monday, November 9, 2015, from 10 a.m. to noon.   Colleague Circle meetings are open to all CLHO members, regardless of your job title or volunteer position, but they are designed to focus on topics and issues of interest to particular groups.  If you are a Collections Manager, Curator, Registrar, or if you wear any or all of these hats at your institution--or you are just interested in the meeting topic--we invite you to attend this Colleague Circle meeting.  Over the course of a year, three or four meetings will be hosted by Circle participants at different sites, with the topics to be guided by the group’s interests.

The November 9th discussion will center on issues pertaining to old collections loans and establishing ownership of collection items that lack Deeds of Gift or other source documents.  If you have ever had a mysterious “drop off” at your museum—an artifact that someone left on your doorstep without any contact information—you know that dealing with your new “acquisition” poses a variety of problems.  And loans of artifacts made twenty or thirty years ago?—maybe you considered them long closed out, but the lender or their descendant isn’t so sure.  Since our discussion will be fairly informal, we do invite you to come prepared with a situation (and hopefully, a resolution, solution, or advice) to share.  We will also talk about CT’s relatively new legislation pertaining to museums and abandoned property and how this helps museums better manage their collections.

The two hour session will include:

 - Light refreshments

 - an informal presentation by Linda Hocking and others on the topic

 - a brainstorming session on next topics for the Collections Colleague Circle

 - Networking, questions & visit to the museum 

What is a CLHO Colleague Circle?

In response to requests from the Needs and Satisfaction Survey that was conducted earlier this year, the CLHO has developed a series of programs that are designed to meet the specific needs and interests of CLHO members. Each Colleague Circle has been developed with a specific interest group in mind so that program speakers, topics and discussions can be better focused to meet participant's needs. Four groups have already been scheduled for the fall, feel free to attend the one that piques your interest and fits your needs.