17 Oct
2010
17 Oct
'10
6:05 p.m.
William Donzelli wrote:
Yes, I don't think museums should be getting deeply involved - but I think any
museum should strive to have good relationships with other museums and with
the various enthusiast communities, which means it's not too hard for them to
reel off a list of alternative places that a person might try when their offer
of an item is turned down.
Whether the person makes use of that advice is out of their hands, but if
there's an aim to preserve history for future generations then it seems better
than assuming that the person will do the research themselves, rather than
giving up and simply tossing the item.
cheers
Jules
I think most
museums (not just computer-related) could do a lot better in
acting as intermediaries between people who need to "dispose" of items and
those who might want what they have - the museum attitude a lot of the time
is "we don't want that, so we don't care what you do with it," when
it's not
really much more effort to say "we don't want it, but we recognise that
these things won't be around forever, and so therefore you could ask here
and here and here..."
It's not about doing the work of actually finding a home for it, but more
about suggesting places / individuals who might be interested, based upon
experience of the item being offered.
Keep in mind there are some ethical issues that start to creep in here
that can really complicate things.
And where there are ethical issues, there are jerks that have bent
these issues and seemingly ruin it for everyone.