UNDERSTANDING THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF DEACCESSIONING

Deaccessioning is a common collections management practice for museums throughout the world to remove an object from its collection. The process itself is generally not controversial but rather an important aspect of maintaining a relevant, high-quality, mission-driven collection that represents the dynamic nature of organizational curatorial and conservation approaches. While deaccessioning is typically uncontroversial, three notable case studies of deaccessioning led to systemic shifts in both policy and the financial treatment of deaccessioning for museums. Utilizing John Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework, the research aims to analyze these three cases with the goal of examining the evolution of US deaccessioning fiscal policy and practice over time. Within the cases, the presentation will specifically focus on the external pressures which contributed to the resulting changes.