CIDOC Guidelines for Museum Object Information: Deaccession and Disposal Information Group

This page is part of the International Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information Categories: a description of the Information Categories that can be used when developing records about the objects in museum collections. For an outline of the Information Groups and Categories in the Guidelines, turn to the introductory list.

Deaccession and Disposal Information Group

Purpose:

Deaccession and disposal information supports Security, Accountability, and Access. Without this information it is not possible to tell whether an object is missing or whether it has been actively deaccessioned.

Information categories:

Deaccession date
Disposal date
Disposal method
Disposal recipient

Examples:

Deaccession date: 1992-01-12
Disposal date: 1992-01-13
Disposal method : transfer
Disposal recipient: The Henley Rowing Museum

Notes:

• Dates of both deaccession and disposal are required to ensure that the object was formally deaccessioned and also to show that disposal actually took place.
• This information is not repeated in a record as an object is only deaccessioned and disposed of once.

Deaccession date

Definition:

The date the object was formally struck from the accessions register.

Examples:

1994-03-01

Notes:

• Always use the same format when recording dates.
• Always record all four digits for the year of a date, e.g., 1994, not '94.

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Disposal date

Definition:

The date a deaccessioned object was actually disposed of. This date may be later than the deaccession date.

Examples:

1994-03-01

Notes:

• Always use the same format when recording dates.
• Always record all four digits for the year of a date, e.g., 1994, not '94.

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Disposal method

Alternate names:

Disposal type

Definition:

The method by which a deaccessioned object was disposed of.

Examples:

destruction
transfer
loss
sale

Notes:

• This Information Category is not repeatable.
• It is recommended that controlled terms are used for this Information Category. Refer to the "Content and terminology control" section in the Introduction for further guidance on sources of controlled terminology.

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Disposal recipient

Definition:

The person, group, or organization to whom a disposed object has been transferred.

Examples:

Giles Teaching Collection

Notes:

• It is recommended that a controlled list of terms is used for this Information Category. Refer to the "Content and terminology control" section in the Introduction for further guidance on sources of controlled terminology.

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Move to outline of the Information Groups and Categories or the next section of the Guidelines, Description

file: guidedis.htm; author: CIDOC; updated June 1995