Temporary Custody Policy & Receipt Form

Policy

Some museums and archives routinely accept materials "on deposit" for their collections. A deposit, in professional terminology, is a temporary or conditional loan of material, usually given with the expectation that it will eventually become a gift. For example, the owner of an expensive painting might put it "on deposit" at a museum, which would care for it and display it under appropriate conditions until the death of the owner, at which time it would be given to the Museum.

Normally, the Pacific University Archives does not take material on deposit. Reasons why we do not accept deposits include:

• • Deposits require us to invest space, staff resources, etc. into materials which we do not own; this impacts our resources for dealing with material that we do own.

  • If any loss or damage were to occur to items on deposit, this may have a negative impact on our relationship with the donor, or possibly even monetary liability for the university.

  • We cannot fully use materials that are here on deposit in terms of providing public access to them, as we would with other archival collections.

  • Deposit arrangements are difficult to monitor over time. For example, if a deposit is planned to become a gift contingent on the death of the owner, someone must the Archives when the owner has died. This can be particularly difficult if for the owner's estate, if his/her executors are not well informed.

  • Deposits that become "orphaned" -- i.e. stuck in the legal limbo of being long-term deposits without clear ownership -- can create legal troubles for the university and/or the donors' heirs.

In rare cases, the Pacific University Archives takes material into temporary custody.

Reason for accepting such deposits in spite of the risks listed above include:

• The incoming material is needed for a temporary exhibit at Pacific, with a fixed begin and ending date for the loan.

• We are assured that the material will be converted to a gift within a short period of time, e.g. less than a year, and we have clearly communicated to the depositor that we will not be able to process, digitize, preserve, etc. the material until it becomes a gift; and that if the material is not reclaimed by a specific date, the material will become property of Pacific University.

The Temporary Custody Form documents incoming loans to Pacific University.