A. OVERVIEW

Outgoing loans of museum collections further the National Park Service (NPS) mission of preservation, education and research. Parks also make outgoing loans to repositories for the purposes of long-term collections management and storage. Outgoing loans give borrowers temporary custody, not title.

If you are the staff person responsible for a museum collection, you must follow this chapter to make outgoing loans of museum objects. These procedures ensure that the collections are appropriately managed and that the NPS and the borrower are legally protected.

Refer to Chapter 2, Accessioning, Section C for procedures on incoming loans.

B. General Information on Loans

You may lend objects from the park museum collection for various purposes such as exhibition, research, scientific or exhibit preparation, analysis, photography, conservation, or other requested services, and for long-term collections management and storage.

If you are lending to...

Limit the loan to...

NPS andnon-NPS repositories

10 years

through cooperative agreements

5 years

to any other
institution or organization

3 years

All loans must must have a specific termination date. If a borrower requests an extension, you may grant it if you follow section E.3.

Repository loans remain at the designated repository until you ask for them back. You may renew these loans as listed above. The repository must return the loan if it is unable to meet the terms of the agreement.

You may lend museum objects to several different types of recipients:

• Educational, cultural, or scientific institutions (for example, NPS park museums, non-NPS museums, historical societies, universities, research institutions, and other organizations).
• Service-providing organizations (for example, NPS and non-NPS conservation and analytical laboratories or exhibit preparation firms or contractors providing these services).
• NPS centers for collections management (including cataloging and storage).
• Non-NPS repositories for collections management (including cataloging and storage).
• Other NPS divisions, offices, and units.

You may not lend museum objects to private individuals.

Catalog the following objects before you lend them:

• Objects lent for exhibit or exhibit preparation.
• Ojects lent for research or analysis. If you don't catalog them, at least document them adequately for example, in a field specimen log.
• Objects lent for photography or conservation. If items need conservation treatment for identification purposes, document these objects adequately for example, in a field specimen log.
• Objects lent to repositories, unless the purpose of the loan includes cataloging.

As the staff person responsible for the museum collection, you must review all potential loans and make recommendations to the superintendent.

The superintendent approves or disapproves all loans.

Once the superintendent approves the loan, you make all arrangements.

Consult the regional curator before making loans to repositories. Some regions may have a regional mandate to send archeological or natural history collections to a specific repository.

For loans to non-NPS repositories, send an informational copy of the loan agreement to the Regional Director, Attention: Regional Curator.

No. The NPS does not permit third party loans. You may lend only the objects the museum owns.

Your superintendent may grant NPS repositories blanket approval to make third party loans for routine conservation or research. Note this authority in the additional loan conditions section of the loan agreement.

Your superintendent may grant NPS conservation treatment facilities the authority to initiate third party loans for contract conservation treatment. Note this authority in the additional loan conditions section of the loan agreement.

Your park as the lender must follow the outgoing loan procedures in this chapter.

If your park is the borrower:

• treat the loan as an incoming loan,
• use the lending park's outgoing loan agreement in place of an incoming loan agreement,
• follow all other incoming documentation procedures as outlined in Chapter 2 of this handbook,
• place the accession number assigned to the incoming loan on the lender's outgoing loan form.

A cooperative agreement (Figure 5.9) may be used instead of a loan agreement. You must ensure that all information contained in the loan agreement is included in the cooperative agreement. The cooperative agreement must include the loan conditions (Figure 5.4).

Yes, objects on loan are subject to NPS inventory procedures as outlined in Chapter 4. During the first year of a loan, the loan agreement serves as verification for inventory purposes. After the first year, the borrower must make objects available for you to inventory. The borrower may verify in writing or by phone the presence and condition of objects in your inventory.

Repositories are required to furnish information each year for the park annual Collections Management Report (CMR). You should require a non-NPS repository to complete the CMR as part of the loan or cooperative agreement.

In addition to inventory, all loans should include a regular monitoring schedule.

Objects on loan remain subject to NPS museum management policies. Federal policies and mandates governing NPS museum collections take precedence over state and local laws and regulations.

Non-NPS repositories must meet National Park Service standards for management of museum collections. These standards are outlined in the NPS Museum Handbook, Part I and this handbook. Standards for storage of federal archeological objects are outlined in 36 CFR Part 79 "Curation of Federally Owned and Administered Archeological Collections." Systematic collections must remain intact.

You may convert previous loans to the new system, described in this chapter, but conversion is not required.

If the superintendent does not approve a loan, file the paperwork in the correspondence file or set up a separate file for disapproved loans.