Hi Corinne,
We have consulted our legal team and decided to post the notice at local newspaper 3 times for 3 consecutive weeks and post all the object information on our website for 3 years for anyone to claim with evidence of ownership. after the three years grace period, if no one comes forward, the museum claims the legal ownership and decide what to do with the FIC objects then. You can find our posting online at :
https://pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu/collections/abandoned-property/
It's a constant effort since we have so many FIC objects, so we try to deal with them a little every year.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Annie
USC Pacific Asia Museum
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Annie Lee
Collections Manager
USC Pacific Asia Museum
USC Pacific Asia Museum CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-24-2023 22:10
From: Corinne Tabolt
Subject: Abandoned property
Hello,
Is anyone willing to share some tips about how they've handled abandoned property? We have many FIC items after an inventory done in 2016 and struggling for storage space (as I'm sure we all are!) Per our state's law the museum must be in possession of the item for at least 5 years and post a notice in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks.
I'm trying to decide what's the most efficient way to track all of this and document the notices so we can sell/donate/dispose of some FIC items appropriately.
Many thanks in advance!
Corinne
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Corinne Tabolt
Collections Manager
Gunn Memorial Library & Museum
Washington CT
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