Deaccessioning and disposal

Use this procedure to dispose of objects that belong to your museum. Reasons might include: objects damaged beyond further use; repatriation of human remains or sacred objects; or transferring duplicate objects to another museum as part of curator-led rationalisation. Sometimes, objects are ‘transferred’ within a museum, eg from the collection of accessioned objects to a handling collection of non-accessioned ones.

This is the Spectrum standard for Deaccessioning and disposal. It includes policy questions and sets out the minimum requirements you should aim to meet however you put this procedure into practice.

This suggested procedure shows how you might meet the Spectrum standard for Deaccessioning and disposal. It is presented in two formats: text and workflow diagram. They are meant to be starting points for you to adapt to the needs of your own museum.