Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 16 - History, Humanities and Arts
Part 5 - Museum Division
Chapter 1 - Collections Policy
Rule 16-5-1.10 - Ethics
Universal Citation: MS Code of Rules 16-5-1.10
Current through September 24, 2024
A. Museum Division Code of Ethics:
The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History approved a Code of Ethics on January 28, 2005. All Museum Division staff members will adhere to this Code of Ethics. Board members and staff members must refrain from any private or public activity which might be in conflict with, or appear to be in conflict with, the mission and interests of the Museum Division.
B. Personal Collecting:
1. Staff
shall not use their position to obtain for personal use and benefit items
falling within the collecting realm of the Museum Division.
2. No individual shall be involved in buying
and selling historical articles for profit as a dealer, or on behalf of a
dealer, or retain interest in a dealership.
3. Staff shall not compete with the Museum
Division in any personal collecting activity. If items purchased by a staff
member fall within the collecting areas of the museum, they must be offered to
the museum within sixty (60) days at the actual cost of the artifact.
4. Staff shall notify the Museum Division
director in writing of all personal collecting and if asked, shall supply an
inventory of items in their collection. If a staff member elects to sell an
item from their personal collection, they will be expected first to offer the
item to the Museum Division at a fair market price.
5. Staff involved in accepting artifacts
and/or the daily activities of the collections office (department director,
Museum Division director, director of curatorial services, director of
collections, and any member of the collections staff) shall not acquire
personal collections of the same nature as the Museum Division's collection.
This policy excludes readily available books and materials relating to
Mississippi history.
6. Collections
acquired by staff through gifts, through inheritance, or prior to employment,
as well as those not within the mission of the Museum Division, shall be exempt
from this policy.
C. Appraisals:
1. Due to a possible
conflict of interest with the Internal Revenue Service, staff members shall
not, in their official or unofficial capacities, provide monetary appraisals of
objects for donors, potential donors, staff, members of the MDAH Board of
Trustees, or the general public. The Museum Division may provide names of
appraisers, but shall not provide an endorsement. The Museum Division may
provide identification and authentication assistance for professional and/or
educational purposes only.
2.
Appraisals of objects owned by the Museum Division can be made for internal use
such as insurance coverage. The Museum Division shall contract with objective
and qualified appraisers as needed.
Miss. Code § 25-59-1 (1972, as amended)
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Mississippi may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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