Deaccessioning Today

Deaccessioning Today: Theory and Practice is a comprehensive international overview of deaccessioning. Author Steven Miller covers reasons for removing items from collections, looks at how and why deaccessioning occurs in museums around the world, and discusses recommended disposition procedures.

Collections make museums unique. Getting and keeping physical evidence of the human and natural world, and doing so for the long term, is not done by any other organizations, entities, agencies, etc. This characteristic is essential to accept and understand regardless of a museum’s operations. It is especially important when considering what to subtract from collections.

Features include:

• In-depth coverage of reasons for deaccessioning including ownership disputes, untenable conservation, redundancy, fakes and forgeries, source of income, safety reasons;
• Processes for both museum-initiated and externally-initiated deaccessions;
• Disposition options including sale, gift, exchange, demotion, destruction, and return;
• Controversies surrounding deaccessions;

Deaccessioning Today is for museum professionals, those who are responsible for museums (such as trustees, volunteers, elected officials, and donors), as well as the general public with an interest in how museums operate and why.