Internal Fire, Museum of Power

Governing Body The Trustees of Internal Fire Museum of Power

Acquisition and Disposal Policy.

12th June 2009 to 1st. January 2012 (unless revised previously).

This policy combines the previous IF Acquisition & Disposals Policy (2003) with the current guidance issued by Museums Libraries and Archives (MLA), in support of the Museum Accreditation Scheme, and in the light of recent changes to the governance and management of Internal Fire Museum of Power.
See http://www.mla.gov.uk/action/accreditation/accreditation_documents.asp

1. Statement of Purpose

The museum has been created to preserve internal combustion engines and their associated driven and support equipment, ensuring that all aspects of the use and maintenance of engines are covered.

The emphasis will be on UK manufactured equipment but representative examples of non-UK manufacturers may be included for comparison or where they are of significance in the development cycle.

It will also ensure the preservation of the skills required to install and maintain all types of internal combustion engines as well as to educate the public in their function. The aim is to display engines in context by providing a suitable period load and creating a period space around each engine so that the public can appreciate the sound and feel of the engines at work.

In addition the museum seeks to preserve any documentation and company archives relating to this type of equipment and to make that information available in a digital form over the internet. The museum aims to provide free access for all educational institutions to archived data and to provide a reference and skills service for other museums requiring help to install and maintain similar equipment.

2. Existing Collections

The museum operates a complex set of working collections that cover not only the engines themselves but also the driven equipment, both mechanical and electrical.

Internal Fire Core Collection consists of a large number of working engines and associated machinery including the oldest daily running Diesel engine in the world, currently the 7th capable of working. The collection has been on public display since 2003.

Castell Pridd Engines is a collection of engines and equipment owned by Paul & Hazel Evans and on long-term loan to the museum.

Ailsa Craig Archive is the complete archive of the Aisla Craig marine engine company from 1904.

IF Library contains over 2000 books on mechanical engineering and over 4000 manuals, catalogues and other printed material relating to the history and development of the internal combustion engine.

IFT is a rapidly growing collection of working telecommunications equipment ranging from HF radio equipment to working Strowger telephone exchanges. The IF Core Collection contains a number of engines originally used by the Post Office, BBC and other communications companies linked directly to this equipment.

Trinity House/Decca is a collection of equipment on long term loan from Trinity House relating to the use of internal combustion engines in the lighthouse service. The collection includes engines and driven equipment such as generators and foghorns.

3. Criteria for Acquisition

a. Material for possible acquisition should fall within the scope of Internal Fires stated interests and the activities relating to those interests.

b. A particular emphasis will be given to the development of the diesel engine from conception to the current day.

c. The museum should intend to retain the item in perpetuity

d. Items closely relating to the permanent collections which meet the above criteria. These items will be accessioned into the permanent collections and full records will be kept to ensure accountability.

e. The Museum will not acquire any item for use for which it cannot provide skilled advice and knowledge to maintain the object in a safe manner following established good practice for a working Museum.

4. Limitations on collecting

The museum recognises its responsibility, in acquiring additions to its collections, to ensure that care of collections, documentation arrangements and use of collections will meet the requirements of the Accreditation Standard. It will take into account limitations on collecting imposed by such factors as staffing, storage and care of collection arrangements.

5. Collecting policies of other museums

The museum will take account of the collecting policies of other museums and other organisations collecting in the same or related areas or subject fields. It will consult with these organisations where conflicts of interest may arise or to define areas of specialisms, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and waste of resources.

Museum of Power, Langford
Manchester Museum of Science and Industry
ThinkTank, Birmingham
The Anson Engine Museum, Stockport

6. Policy Review Procedure

The Acquisition and Disposal Policy will be published and reviewed from time to time, at least once every five years. The date when the policy is next due for review is noted above.

CyMAL will be notified of any changes to the Acquisition and Disposal Policy, and the implications of any such changes for the future of existing collections.

7. Acquisitions not covered by the policy

Acquisitions outside the current stated policy will only be made in very exceptional circumstances, and then only after proper consideration by the governing body of the museum itself, having regard to the interests of other museums.

8. Acquisition Procedures

a. The museum will exercise due diligence and make every effort not to acquire, whether by purchase, gift, bequest or exchange, any object or specimen unless the governing body or responsible officer is satisfied that the museum can acquire a valid title to the item in question.

b. In particular, the museum will not acquire any object or specimen unless it is satisfied that the object or specimen has not been acquired in, or exported from, its country of origin (or any intermediate country in which it may have been legally owned) in violation of that countrys laws. (For the purposes of this paragraph `country of origin includes the United Kingdom).

c. In accordance with the provisions of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, which the UK ratified with effect from November 1 2002, and the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003, the museum will reject any items that have been illicitly traded. The governing body will be guided by the national guidance on the responsible acquisition of cultural property issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2005.

d. The museum will not acquire any biological or geological material.

e. The museum will not acquire any archaeological material.

f. Any exceptions to the above clauses 8a, 8b, 8c, or 8e will only be because the museum is either:

acting as an externally approved repository of last resort for material of local (UK) origin;

or acquiring an item of minor importance that lacks secure ownership history but in the best judgement of experts in the field concerned has not been illicitly traded;

or acting with the permission of authorities with the requisite jurisdiction in the country of origin;

or in possession of reliable documentary evidence that the item was exported from its country of origin before 1970.

In these cases the museum will be open and transparent in the way it makes decisions and will act only with the express consent of an appropriate outside authority.

g. The museum does not hold or intend to acquire any human remains.

9. Spoilation

The museum will use the statement of principles Spoliation of Works of Art during the Nazi, Holocaust and World War II period, issued for non-national museums in 1999 by the Museums and Galleries Commission.

10. The Repatriation and Restitution of objects and human remains

The museums governing body, acting on the advice of the museums professional staff, if any, may take a decision to return human remains (unless covered by the Guidance for the care of human remains in museums issued by DCMS in 2005) , objects or specimens to a country or people of origin. The museum will take such decisions on a case by case basis; within its legal position and taking into account all ethical implications and available guidance. This will mean that the procedures described in 12a-12d, 12g and 12s below will be followed but the remaining procedures are not appropriate.

The disposal of human remains will follow the procedures in the Guidance for the care of human remains in museums.

11. Management of archives

As the museum holds archives, including photographs and printed ephemera, its governing body will be guided by the Code of Practice on Archives for Museums and Galleries in the United Kingdom (3rd ed., 2002).

12. Disposal procedures

Disposal preliminaries

a. The governing body will ensure that the disposal process is carried out openly and with transparency.

b. By definition, the museum has a long-term purpose and holds collections in trust for society in relation to its stated objectives. The governing body therefore accepts the principle that sound curatorial reasons for disposal must be established before consideration is given to the disposal of any items in the museums collection.

c. The museum will confirm that it is legally free to dispose of an item and agreements on disposal made with donors will be taken into account.

d. When disposal of a museum object is being considered, the museum will establish if it was acquired with the aid of an external funding organisation. In such cases, any conditions attached to the original grant will be followed. This may include repayment of the original grant and a proportion of the proceeds if the item is disposed of by sale.

Motivation for disposal and method of disposal

e. When disposal is motivated by curatorial reasons the procedures outlined in paragraphs 12g-12s will be followed and the method of disposal may be by gift, sale or exchange.

f. In exceptional cases, the disposal may be motivated principally by financial reasons. The method of disposal will therefore be by sale and the procedures outlined below in paragraphs 12g-12m and 12s will be followed. In cases where disposal is motivated by financial reasons, the governing body will not undertake disposal unless it can be demonstrated that all the following exceptional circumstances are met in full:

1) The disposal will significantly improve the long-term public benefit derived from the remaining collection

2) The disposal will not be undertaken to generate short-term revenue (for example to meet a budget deficit)

3) The disposal will be undertaken as a last resort after other sources of funding have been thoroughly explored.

The disposal decision-making process

g. Whether the disposal is motivated either by curatorial or financial reasons, the decision to dispose of material from the collections will be taken by the governing body only after full consideration of the reasons for disposal. Other factors including the public benefit, the implications for the museums collections and collections held by museums and other organisations collecting the same material or in related fields will be considered. External expert advice will be obtained and the views of stakeholders such as donors, researchers, local and source communities and others served by the museum will also be sought.

Responsibility for disposal decision-making

h. A decision to dispose of a specimen or object, whether by gift, exchange, sale or destruction (in the case of an item too badly damaged or deteriorated to be of any use for the purposes of the collections or for reasons of health and safety), will be the responsibility of the governing body of the museum acting on the advice of professional curatorial staff, if any, and not of the curator of the collection acting alone.

Use of proceeds of sale

i. Any monies received by the museum governing body from the disposal of items will be applied for the benefit of the collections. This normally means the purchase of further acquisitions. In exceptional cases, improvements relating to the care of collections in order to meet or exceed Accreditation requirements relating to the risk of damage to and deterioration of the collections may be justifiable. Any monies received in compensation for the damage, loss or destruction of items will be applied in the same way. Advice on those cases where the monies are intended to be used for the care of collections will be sought from MLA.

j. The proceeds of a sale will be ring-fenced so it can be demonstrated that they are spent in a manner compatible with the requirements of the Accreditation standard.

Disposal by gift or sale

k. Once a decision to dispose of material in the collection has been taken, priority will be given to retaining it within the public domain, unless it is to be destroyed. It will therefore be offered in the first instance, by gift or sale, directly to other Accredited Museums likely to be interested in its acquisition.

l. If the material is not acquired by any Accredited Museums to which it was offered directly as a gift or for sale, then the museum community at large will be advised of the intention to dispose of the material, normally through an announcement in the Museums Associations Museums Journal, and in other specialist journals where appropriate.

m. The announcement relating to gift or sale will indicate the number and nature of specimens or objects involved, and the basis on which the material will be transferred to another institution. Preference will be given to expressions of interest from other Accredited Museums. A period of at least two months will be allowed for an interest in acquiring the material to be expressed. At the end of this period, if no expressions of interest have been received, the museum may consider disposing of the material to other interested individuals and organisations giving priority to organisations in the public domain.

Disposal by exchange

n. The nature of disposal by exchange means that the museum will not necessarily be in a position to exchange the material with another Accredited museum. The governing body will therefore ensure that issues relating to accountability and impartiality are carefully considered to avoid undue influence on its decision-making process.

o. In cases where the governing body wishes for sound curatorial reasons to exchange material directly with Accredited or unaccredited museums, with other organisations or with individuals, the procedures in paragraphs 12a-12d and 12g-12h will be followed as will the procedures in paragraphs 12p-12s.

p. If the exchange is proposed to be made with a specific Accredited museum, other Accredited museums which collect in the same or related areas will be directly notified of the proposal and their comments will be requested.

q. If the exchange is proposed with a non-accredited museum, with another type of organisation or with an individual, the museum will make an announcement in the Museums Journal and in other specialist journals where appropriate.

r. Both the notification and announcement must provide information on the number and nature of the specimens or objects involved both in the museums collection and those intended to be acquired in exchange. A period of at least two months must be allowed for comments to be received. At the end of this period, the governing body must consider the comments before a final decision on the exchange is made.

Documenting disposal

s. Full records will be kept of all decisions on disposals and the items involved and proper arrangements made for the preservation and/or transfer, as appropriate, of the documentation relating to the items concerned, including photographic records where practicable in accordance with SPECTRUM Procedure on deaccession and disposal.