Exploring an Ethical Dilemma
I watched an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that focused on museums and the origins of their collections back in October 2022. One of the main takeaways was that many artifacts were looted and raided during wars and later sold to different institutions across the world. This is a large reason why some statues have missing pieces such as feet, hands, or other missing parts in their institutions. They were quickly stolen to be sold or separated for even greater profits. Other museums may have the missing pieces to a work of art, leaving these important historical works forever separated. Every museum wants to have an iconic piece of an historical work, but it seems having a completed work housed in one place would much better benefit visitors and researchers. Ever since I learned this, I have been thinking a lot about not only museums, but archives and the objects in their collections. This made me think of archives today and what would happen (or happens) if important papers surrounding a prominent figure were separated. An archivist strives to maintain the original order for their collections at all costs and any separation of materials would be a difficult dilemma to be in.
The Society of American Archivists (SAA) has a well-defined Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics. These ethics provide a solid framework but acknowledge that not all archivists have the same mindset. Archivists come from a variety of backgrounds with different skillets to contribute to the profession. Seven main characteristics make up SAA’s Code of Ethics. These include Professional Relationships, Judgment, Authenticity, Security & Protection, Access & Use, Privacy, and Trust (SAA). They do not contain specific instructions for situations that arise but can be consulted for their fundamental characteristics.
If I received a body of papers of a prominent individual that I knew were already housed in another archives, several questions would need to be asked. Who donated the papers, and where did they come from? I would want to know why they are being donated to my archives instead of the other one like the other materials. Were they unhappy with the way they are being handled, stored, accessed, or used? I would also try and find out why the papers were split up in the first place. These would all be essential questions for the donor and/or individual who created the documents.
I would then consult the Code of Ethics based on the answers I received. The ‘Professional Relationships’ code states that archivists should “cooperate and collaborate with other archivists in the profession…and be as respectful, honest, transparent, empathetic, and equitable as possible” (SAA). With this, I would contact my current director at the archives where I worked and ask them if I could get in touch with the institution who housed the rest of the collection. By working alongside the archivists at the other institution, perhaps an agreement could be made to ensure the entire collection remains together. Maintaining original order is one of the most important factors when assessing collections. It would be a strain, if not impossible, for researchers to have to visit two different institutions to piece together valuable research. Three options could be considered. The first could be donating the papers to the other archives so that they could all be housed in one place. A professional relationship could be formed with the potential to make a similar exchange in return in the future. This would only be a solution depending on the rules from the donor when receiving the papers. The second option could be to exchange high-quality reproductions of the papers located at each archive. This way, each archive could maintain a complete record of the affairs of the individual. If the collections from both archives were made available online, they could cross reference each other so the user would easily be able to locate a complete collection with metadata describing which content came from which archive. A third option could be to loan the papers to the other archive for a pre-determined period of time. Since the papers were from a prominent individual, the current research value could be higher now than in the future. People may be flocking to these particular records for current books or publications. Years later, when the research and access is much lower, they could be returned to the archive and another option could be considered.
The ‘Access & Use’ code states that archivists “promote open and equitable access to records in their care as much as possible” (SAA). If an agreement had been made with the other institution for exchange or loan, I would ensure that their access policy would align with our access policy had we taken over the documents. Paperwork could be created to ensure follow through. There could even be a policy in place which stated that we could gain access to the records for our own institutional research if this was ever necessary in the future. Along with access policies, I would ensure ‘Privacy’ codes were also in place that aligned with our current policies.
Perhaps the most important code to consult in this situation would be ‘Trust’. Trust maintains that “archivists should not take advantage of their privileged access to and control of records and collections” (SAA). It could destroy trust to take advantage of the situation and choose to simply do nothing. Even though it would be great to house these records for the benefit of the archives themselves, archives are created for its users. User trust could be lost if archives took advantage of this in a similar way where museums acquired separated historical objects in the past.
Although I described three different routes one could take in this situation, there are still many legal issues that could arise. The nature of the documents themselves and the integrity of the individual would also come into play. If any of the three options outlines were considered, both institutions would have to share the same legal terms when working together. These would include copyright, access, and usage rights.
In summary, if I received the remaining papers of a prominent individual whose records I knew were housed in another institution, I would create a list of immediate questions to ask the donor and/or individual. I would then consult the Director of my current organization for their advice and recommend talking to the other institution that houses the remaining papers. After consulting SAA’s Code of Ethics, I would then reach out to that institution and collaborate with them to create an agreement which would allow the papers to be accessible in one place. If collaboration between archives was not possible, I would be upfront to users that the collection was incomplete which could lead to inadequate research. I would then try and point them to the other archive that may have the missing papers so they could conduct more accurate research. Being honest and upfront will improve the relationship between archivists and their users.
References
Oliver, J. (2022, October 2). Museums: last week tonight with john oliver (hbo) [Video file]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJPLiT1kCSM
SAA core values statement and code of ethics. (2020, August 6). Society of American Archivists. https://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics