Ethics

Ethics. A. Museum Division Code of Ethics: The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History approved a Code of Ethics on January 28, 2005. All Museum Division staff members will adhere to this Code of Ethics. Board members and staff members must refrain from any private or public activity which might be in conflict with, or appear to be in conflict with, the mission and interests of the Museum Division. B. Personal Collecting: 1. Staff shall not use their positions to obtain for personal use and benefit items falling within the collecting realm of the Museum Division. 2. No individual shall be involved in buying and selling historical articles for profit as a dealer, or on behalf of a dealer, or retain an interest in a dealership. 3. Staff shall not compete with the Museum Division in any personal collecting activity. If items purchased by a staff member fall within the collecting areas of the museum, they must be offered to the museum within sixty (60) days at the actual cost of the artifact. 4. Staff shall notify the Museum Division director in writing of all personal collecting and if asked, shall supply an inventory of items in their collection. If a staff member elects to sell an item from their personal collection, they will be expected first to offer the item to the Museum Division at a fair market price. 5. Staff involved in accepting artifacts and/or the daily activities of the collections office (department director, Museum Division director, director of curatorial services, director of collections, and any member of the collections staff) shall not acquire personal collections of the same nature as the Museum Division’s collection. This policy excludes readily available books and materials relating to Mississippi history. 6. Collections acquired by staff through gifts, through inheritance, or prior to employment, as well as those not within the mission of the Museum Division, shall be exempt from this policy. C. Appraisals: 1. Due to a possible conflict of interest with the Internal Revenue Service, staff members shall not, in their official or unofficial capacities, provide monetary appraisals of objects for donors, potential donors, staff, members of the MDAH Board of Trustees, or the general public. The Museum Division may provide names of appraisers, but shall not provide an endorsement. The Museum Division may provide identification and authentication assistance for professional and/or educational purposes only. 2. Appraisals of objects owned by the Museum Division can be made for internal use such as insurance coverage. The Museum Division shall contract with objective and qualified appraisers as needed.