Deciding Whether to Accept or Decline Collections: Legal,Ethical,and Practical Considerations at the Arizona State Museum

Abstract

The Arizona State Museum (ASM), at the University of Arizona, is required to accept collections recovered from state, county, and municipal lands in Arizona. In deciding whether to accept other collections, ASM personnel must consider each offer in the context of the institution’s legal mandates, the ethical principles that guide the fields of archaeology and museology, and the practical realities of space and funding. In this paper, the decision-making process at ASM is described and illustrated using examples of collections accepted and collections declined. ASM personnel strive for clarity and consistency in such processes by prioritizing optional acquisitions based on the institution’s mission, its collecting focus, a collection’s (or an object’s) research potential, and ASM’s ability to provide appropriate care and access in perpetuity.