Access to and Use of Collections and Collections Records

Access to and Use of Collections and Collections Records. A. Policy: The Museum Division will strive to make its collections and collections records available for study and examination by individuals for scholarly research and other legitimate purposes. The Museum Division will allow access to and use of its collections and collections records in a controlled, professional manner that protects the physical and intellectual integrity of the collections and collections records. Access to the collections and collections records will not be unreasonably denied. However, acknowledging its responsibility to safeguard the collections and collections records, the Museum Division reserves the right to control access to prevent the following: 1. Deterioration, mutilation, loss, or dislocation of objects and/or collections records 2. Undue interference with the administrative, professional, and technical operations of the Museum Division 3. Undue impact on the furnishing of services to other MDAH users. Authority for permitting and monitoring access to and use of the collections and collections records is shared by collections staff. Should particular questions arise regarding proper, legitimate access to and use of the collections and collections records, the department’s legal counsel will be consulted. B. Procedures: A request specifying the objects and records to be examined (and if the researcher wishes to photograph the objects and in what format), the purpose and proposed date of the examination, and the researcher's contact information should be submitted to the director of collections. If the request meets with the established access policy of the Museum Division, the collections staff will schedule an appointment with the researcher and will provide supervised access to the specified objects and records. Access to the collections and the collections records may be limited both by the availability of staff time to provide adequate supervision and by the potential damage to particularly fragile objects from movement and handling during examination. Any copying and photography costs shall be the responsibility of the researcher. The researcher shall give the Museum Division copies of any papers, publications, or other media which result from study of the Museum Division's collections. Normally, examination of collections and collections records by a researcher will take place in the collections office under the supervision of the director of collections or their designee. If the size and/or fragility of the object to be examined does not permit the object to be easily and safely removed from the collections storage room, then the director of collections may allow the researcher strictly supervised access to the storage room to examine the specific object. If more than 5 people are in a group to examine an object in storage, the following conditions must be met: 1. All requests must be approved by the director of curatorial services, or the director of collections. 2. Ideally, no more than 10 visitors will be allowed in collections. If more than 10 visitors are present, 2 or more collections staff members should be present. 3. No more than 10 items will be shown. 4. The tour should last no longer than 1 hour. 5. No bags, purses, or oversized jackets may be brought into the collections storage area. Unsupervised access to collections storage rooms by persons other than collections staff is not permitted. C. Access to Obtain Copies of Collection Related Material: The Museum Division occasionally retains permission to use images of text, paintings, drawings, and other photographs from hundreds of different sources for use in exhibits. The Museum Division may provide source information to researchers for purposes of requesting permission to use images. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain written permission from the original owner of the image. In rare instances, the Museum Division may provide a copy of the requested image to the researcher after permission has been given and if the original owner is unable to provide the copy. Otherwise, the Museum Division requires that images be sought from the original owners. D. Reproduction of Artifacts from Collection: 1. Policy: The Museum Division reserves all rights for the reproduction of objects in the Museum Division collections. If permission to reproduce an artifact is granted, that permission is for a one-time reproduction with the reproduction to be used only for educational purposes. No commercial reproduction (replica manufacture of any sort) is permitted without a written agreement approved by the Museum Division director, Department director, and the Board of Trustees. The Museum Division reserves the right to license vendors, collect royalties, initiate fees, or otherwise control the use of its collections as may be deemed appropriate and lawful. 2. Procedure: All requests to reproduce an artifact must be made in writing to the Museum Division director or the director of collections. A Permission to Reproduce form must be completed agreeing to the guidelines for reproducing artifacts stipulated by the Museum Division and printed on back of the form. No information about the artifact with the exception of photographs may be released until the request to reproduce has been approved. The requestor is responsible for any costs associated with photographing the artifact and the use fee. A record of reproduced artifacts (including photograph of reproduction—which should be altered from original artifact, photograph of credit line that is attached to the artifact, maker information, owner information, and reproduction materials) will be maintained by the director of collections. E. Photography of Collections: 1. Limitations on Public Photography of Collections: a. No publication or commercial use of photographs taken in the Museum Division's exhibition areas is permitted without the written approval of the Museum Division director. b. Photography in the Museum Division’s exhibition areas for personal use is permitted during regular hours of public visitation unless otherwise posted. c. The use of flash units, strobe lights, or other potentially damaging artificial light sources by visitors to photograph the Museum Division's exhibition areas will normally not be permitted. d. In the interest of public safety, the Museum Division may limit or prevent the use of tripods in exhibition areas. 2. Request for Photographs of Collections: a. Requests for obtaining photographs of objects in the Museum Division's collections will be submitted to the collections staff. b. Due to limited staff resources and time, the Museum Division may be unable to immediately fulfill a specific photographic request if there is not already an existing digital image. c. Researchers wishing to photograph objects in the collections with their own photographic equipment may do so. d. Researchers wishing to hire an outside vendor to photograph objects in the collection may do so only with prior Museum Division approval. The Museum Division reserves the right to select the vendor to provide such special photographic services. The researcher must make direct arrangements with the vendor for payment of vendor services. e. If the request is to publish a photograph of an object, then a Permission to Publish form stipulating that the photograph will be appropriately credited and that the Museum Division will be provided with a complimentary copy of the publication or other example of the published image must be completed and submitted for approval by the director of collections or the Museum Division director. f. Purchase of copyrighted photographic prints or transparencies of Museum Division objects does not convey to the purchaser any rights of copyright. Certain works of art as well as photographs of those works of art may be protected by copyright, trademark, or related interests not owned by the Museum Division. The responsibility for ascertaining whether any such rights exist and for obtaining all other necessary permissions remains with the purchaser. g. The Museum Division reserves the right to levy fees for the use of its copyright materials, photographs, and reproductions. h. The Museum Division reserves the right to deny a request for photographs of the Museum's collections if fulfilling the request would lead to one or more of the following conditions: i. Endanger the physical security of the collections ii. Undermine the intellectual integrity of the collections iii. Pose an excessive administrative burden iv. Violate the terms of a loan v. Infringe on copyrighted material vi. Involve a use for illegal or unethical purposes vii. Violate privacy, publicity, or other personal rights of any party viii. Libel, slander, or cause undue ridicule or embarrassment to any person or organization ix. Imply an institutional endorsement of any product, company, or enterprise.