# LEGACY OF THE PLAINS

2930 Old Oregon Trail, Gering NE 69341 * 308-436-1989

## Museum Collections Policy

Legacy of the Plains is charged with building a collection of material and objects pertinent to the heritage of North Platte Valley and High Plains, thereby fulfilling the stated mission of the museum to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of settlement and agriculture of the region for present and future generations.

- (a) Museum objects that shall be collected and maintained by Legacy of the Plains are those which relate to the pre-historic and historic occupation of the North Platte Valley and those people associated with it, the archaeology of Native American and Westward Expansion sites, the lives of pioneering settlers, the establishment of irrigation systems, the development of rural communities, the diversity of culture in the High Plains, and the innovative technologies and cultural practices of raising animals and crops – including cattle, sheep, potatoes, sugar beets, corn, beans, and wheat – in a semiarid High Plains environment.
- (b) Legacy of the Plains seeks quality artifacts that are documented as to provenance, date, age, location, and so forth. The quality and historical relevance of the museum collections is stressed over the quantity of collections.
- (c) Objects and materials of historical significance that are worthy of preservation will be accessioned into the Museum collections. Legacy of the Plains Board of Directors may also accept donations of objects for interpretative purposes into the Use Collection. These objects may be consumed with use, and, if so, will be discarded. These items will be registered as a donation to the museum but will not be accessioned or considered a part of the formal museum collections.
- (d) Physical, graphic, or photographic reproduction of objects in the museum collections, made for the sole purpose of sale of such reproductions, is expressly forbidden without the written permission of the Board of Directors.
- (e) Museum objects and information about these objects will be made available to the public regularly through exhibits and interpretive programming. Museum objects in storage may be made available for research purposes within the constraints of staff availability and the safety and security of the museum objects themselves.
- (f) Museum objects shall not be exhibited or otherwise used in such a way as to cause unnecessary damage to the objects themselves. The Board of Directors shall monitor such uses and shall be authorized to order such changes in exhibit technique or other use as needed to protect objects in the museum collections.
- (g) Indefinite loans are discouraged, but the Board of Directors has discretion to approve indefinite loans on a case-by-case basis. Temporary loans for limited periods of time may be accepted for specific exhibits or research purposes at the discretion of the Board of Directors.
- (h) Objects may be deaccessioned and considered for the purpose of selling or for exchanges for something else, which would further the development of the museum's objectives.

The Acquisition Policy: "Accessioning is the formal process used to accept and record an item as a museum or collection object. Acquisition is the discovery, preliminary evaluation, negotiation for, receiving ownership of, and taking custody of museum objects for addition to the association’s collections.”

- (a) Acquisition Criteria: Objects and materials to be collected must meet all of the following