GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

ecome separated from their accompanying data and thus remain unrecognised.
It is important that where a missing specimen can be shown to have been in the
museum's collections it should be allocated an Identity Number. There are two
reasons for this: first, the negative information itself may be of value to future
research, and second, in the case of unrecognised specimens, good detective work
can often remedy the situation. Furthermore, should any labels, photographs,
etc. of a missing specimen exist, they can be referred to an allocated Identity
Number and be thus stored in the appropriate History File.
The number assigned to a missing specimen should be from the sequence
normally applicable to the specimen if it existed. Some curators, however, use
another series of 'missing specimen numbers' apart from the normal series. In
both cases, the specimen documentation must include the fact that the specimen
is 'missing' and we recommend use of the 'condition7 section of the catalogue
record for this purpose (see B4.4.3.2). An index of missing specimens is useful.
Specimens which are known to have been stolen must be investigated as a case
of theft. Especially valuable material or that at special risk should, ideally, have
been photographed to permit police work to progress properly and to allow
accurate valuation for insurance claims, if the specimens were not individually
covered. The documentation of material lost through theft is the same as for any
other loss.
6.2.1.2. Destroyed specimens
Specimens which are found to have deteriorated beyond salvage for one reason or
another are essentially lost. (This situation does not cover material that is
deliberately destroyed for other reasons: see B6.2.2.5.) Clearly the reason for a
loss of this type is known and in contrast to the documentation of a specimen that
is simply missing, that of a specimen lost by deterioration should have the
circumstances of the loss carefully noted. In the case of once valuable or
important material, a witness to the facts may be a useful addition to the records.
In addition to the labels, etc. being placed in a History File, any label or number
fixed or marked on the specimens should, if at all possible, be saved and
filed - such evidence is useful confirmation of the facts, which, in time, may prove
to be elusive. All documentation against the Specimen Identity Number must be
preserved for future enquiry.
6.2.2. Disposal of materials
The activity of disposal is at odds with the generally perceived role of museums.
In the U.K., it is commonly accepted that museums in the public domain
(museums funded out of taxes, rates or under charitable status) are not the
owners of the material they hold, but are the custodians, holding it in trust, in
perpetuity, on behalf of the true owners, the public. "There must be a strong
presumption against the disposal of any items in the collections of a museum"
(Boylan 1977) is the ethic fundamental to both the Museums Association's 'Code
of Practice for Museum Authorities' (Boylan 1977 para. 5.1) and its 'Code of
Conduct for Museum Curators' Duggan et al. (1984) (para. 1.4). .These policy
statements purposely do not "prohibit" or "preclude under any circumstances"
disposal, but voice a "strong presumption against" disposal. These are carefully
chosen words and allow the museum the flexibility it needs in the discharge of its