There’s no such thing as free kittens: one person’s gift is another’s burden. Without disclosing particular details (and a request for no recording of the session), archivists on this panel will share “learning opportunities” of when accepting donations became more than they bargained for: whether it was a case of extensive donor-imposed restrictions, a tale of opaque rightful ownership, or when collections became exponentially costly in terms of space, labor, and sanity. The intended outcome is to provide archivists and archival repository administrators with concrete examples to emphasize the importance of well documented acquisition procedures, so they can better handle scenarios which may arise in their own institutions, and offer attendees an opportunity to share their own experiences.
