GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

6. MATERIAL LEAVING THE MUSEUM
PREAMBLE
The responsibilities of a curator for the specimens in his care extend to any
situation in which they leave his immediate control. (This may include the
transfer of material to another section within your museum.) Below, we consider
the two basic situations that occur - material temporarily leaving the museum
(B6.1), and material permanently leaving the museum (B6.2), and give advice on
the necessary procedures and documentation required.
6.1. MATERIAL TEMPORARILY LEAVING THE MUSEUM
6.1.1. Loans-out
6.1.1.1. Loanspolicies
In contrast to the less formal procedures for the control of specimen movement
within a museum, procedures for the lending of specimens to outside individuals
or institutions should be strictly supervised. Specimens are lent for a variety of
reasons: education, display, research, conservation, etc. More often than not such
loads are "preceded by a clarification of the acceptability of the recipient, the
suitability of the item as a loan and appropriate insurance or indemnification
arrangements" (Roberts 1985 in press). An alternative strategy which is recommended
as a first stage in loan supervision is the establishment of a Loans Policy
which should, as far as possible, pre-establish those 'clarifications'. Such a policy
should also answer the following questions:
What classes of material shall be available for loan?
What restrictions on these classes need be applied?
Who shall be eligible to receive loans?
How long should loans be made for?
For what purposes should material be made available?
Certain recommendations can be made here which should be considered for
inclusion in a Loans Policy:
Loans to schools should not normally contain catalogued specimens but
should draw on an ex~endablecollection of 'school loan' mateiial.
Type, figured and cited material must be lent under the most stringent of
conditions, with particular safeguards taken with regard to borrower,
packing, transport, further preparation, etc.
No 'original' labels or other documents should accompany specimens;
photocopies must be supplied if necessary.
Loans should not be made to non-permanent (e.g. research) members of
staff of an institution but through research supervisors who must have
responsibility for specimens should-their students disappear
The bona fides and identity of a borrower should be confirmed prior to
specimen dispatch. A useful security procedure is to have the borrower write