Museum Procedures

Temporary Acceptance - Donation

• Fill out Temporary Receipt form for the donor and the museum. Give a copy of the form to the donor for their records;
• Keep a copy of the temporary receipt with the artifact(s) OR Prepare a temporary tag for the artifact(s);
• Upon approval of donation, a thank-you letter is sent to the donor accompanied by a gift for to be signed by the donor and one (1) witness to transfer legal title of the donation to the museum;
• If the donation is not accepted into the collection, it shall be returned to the donor. Contact is made with the donor, either by letter or by telephone for them to make arrangements to pick up their donation; and
• If after a period of six (6) months, the artifact has not been retrieved by the owner, it becomes the whole and absolute property of the museum. Its disposal will be at the discretion of the Collections Committee.

Registration - Donation

• Ensure that the gift form has been received and is signed by the donor, one (1) witness, and the Museum Curator/Collections Manager;
• Record the artifact(s) in the Accession Ledger and assign an accession number to each artifact;
• Fill out the appropriate paperwork to go into the accession file;
• Mark the accession number on the artifact(s); and
• Establish an accession file for the artifact(s), and place the documentation inside.

Registration - Purchased Artifact(s)

• Receipt from purchase of artifact will replace the gift form b - d
• Follow the same procedures as outlined in number 2 items b - d

• Cataloguing Worksheet - to be completed for every artifact
• Condition Report - to be completed for every artifact
• Enter information into the database
• Donor/source card
• Classification/subject card
• Other cards for supplementary files (such as a location card)