| Donations | Incoming Loans | Collections Care | Teaching Collection |
| Purchases | Outgoing Loans | Deaccessions | Research Policy |
The Fort Bend Museum collects historic material which the director and/or the curator of collections deem appropriate to the museum's purpose. Donations of artifacts, which meet the museum's collection purposes, are sought and encouraged.
Donors must have clear and legal title to all materials given to the museum. A gift agreement must be completed for all donations and should be unrestricted. However, if any restrictions are placed upon a donation and the museum director and/or curator of collections still consider the object essential to the collection, the restrictions must be expressly stated on the gift agreement.
The appraised value of a donation is the responsibility of the donor. The acceptance of an item at its appraised value does not imply an endorsement of the appraisal by the museum.
Purchases of artifacts by the museum must meet the museum's collecting purpose and policies and not exceed the annually budgeted funds for this purpose without Board approval. Artifacts may be purchased for the collection with the recommendation of the curator of collections and approval of the director. The purchase of artifacts beyond budgeted funds requires the recommendation of the curator of collections and director, with approval of the Board of Trustees.
Artifacts which meet the museum's collecting purpose may be acquired by loan to fill the immediate interpretive needs of the museum, or when the artifact is of significant historical value and will be used for study and/or reproduction purposes.A loan agreement must be completed for all loans and any stipulations must be expressly stated in the loan agreement.
Prior written notice of at least thirty days must be given to the museum if the lender wishes to withdraw the object before the end of the loan period.
Incoming loan agreements will be limited to a period of one year or less. Loan period may only be renewed with authorization from the curator of collections or the director.
Artifacts in the museum's collection may be loaned to other non-profit institutions, upon approval of the director and/or the curator of collections. The artifacts may be loaned to museums, cultural, historical, or educational institutions providing they meet the requirements for security, general care, use, insurance, transportation, packing, and crating as established by the Fort Bend Museum Association.
The security and preservation of the artifact will be the primary consideration. A facilities report and transportation arrangements from the borrowing institutions must be submitted with the loan request.
Insurance on loaned artifacts will be the responsibility of the borrowing institution.
Outgoing loans will be based on a term of one year or less. The loan agreement may be renewed upon expiration with the approval of the curator of collections or the director.
The curator of collections has the responsibility to ensure that the collections are properly documented and cared for according to professionally accepted museum standards.
A written Conservation Plan will be implemented by the curator of collections, and revised by the curator with the approval of the director. This plan will include instructions for care of collections both in storage and on exhibit.
The curator of collections is responsible for conducting a regularly scheduled inventory of the collections to ensure accountability and identify possible conservation needs.
Duplicate copies of collections records will be stored at another location.
The acceptance of a donation or loan does not in any way guarantee immediate or permanent exhibition.
Deaccession is the formal process to permanently remove an artifact from the museum collections.
An adequate record of conditions and circumstances under which artifacts are deaccessioned and disposed of must be made and retained as part of the museum's collections records.
Deaccessioned artifacts will not be given, sold or traded privately to present or former museum employees, members of the museum Board of Trustees, or their representatives.
Objects may be deaccessioned from the museum's collections with Board of Trustees' approval, for the following reasons:
The artifact's lack of relevance and/or usefulness.
The inability to continue to properly conserve the artifact.
The deterioration of the artifact beyond use.
The duplication of the artifact with others in the collection.
The artifact does not comply with the museum's statement of purpose.
Deaccessioned artifacts may be disposed of at the discretion of the curator of collections with the approval of the director, by any of the following means. Preference will be given to retaining artifacts for use in the museum's teaching collection, or exchange with or transfer to another non-profit institution.
Transfer to the museum's teaching collection.
Exchange with another non-profit institution.
Transfer to another non-profit institution.
Sale to another non-profit institution.
Sale to the general public at auction.
Sale to the general public through a dealer.
Return to the original donor.
Destruction of the object.
The museum may accept other donations for use in the "hands-on" interpretive programs and traveling trunks. These items are not of sufficient historical value to be included in the museum's permanent collection, or are duplicates or reproductions. These items are not to be accessioned into the permanent collection, but are recorded in a separate file under museum properties. Objects that are from the teaching collection but have already been accessioned as part of the permanent collection will be recommended for deaccession and documented in the appropriate file. Teaching collections will be inventoried annually as part of year-end inventories.
The museum's permanent collections contain artifacts and archival materials that can be valuable to original research on a variety of subjects. The museum acknowledges the need to make its collections available to research, as well as its responsibility to protect the materials from undue wear.
All research visits involving artifacts from the collection must be approved and pre-arranged with the curator of collections or the director. All research visitors will be properly supervised by museum personnel, and all researchers will be instructed in the basic techniques for handling the scheduled materials. Accepted museum practices in care and handling will be enforced at all times. Copies of original materials will be provided if copies will suffice for research purposes.
Publication, printing, or commercial use of the museum's collection can only be done with the written approval of the director and/or the curator of collections. Appropriate credit must be given to the museum when applicable.