Acquisitions Policy

The intent of this policy is to improve the quality of the collection by providing general principles for the acquisition, treatment and disposition of genealogical materials.

This policy covers the following areas:

1. Acquisitions of new material.

The Southern California Genealogical Society (hereafter referred to as
SCGS) will acquire only material that directly supports genealogical research. This includes person-related data (names, places, dates, events), "how to", maps, legal documents, directories, etc. It does not include general history and material that is generally available in public libraries.

2. Disposition of obsolete and superseded items

The SCGS will periodically review its collection and remove obsolete, superseded and duplicate material. This will include exact duplicates and items that contain material substantially covered by other works.

3. Servicing other collections

The SCGS may arrange to service collections of other institutions for a fee.
The services provided are the same as provided for the SCGS collection.
Items under such an agreement shall be treated as items of the SCGS collection without restriction. This arrangement must be renegotiated every five (5) years. An agreement to store items shall be considered a special circumstance and shall require acceptance by the general membership.

4. Donations from individuals

5. Acceptance by SCGS from individuals includes the transfer of ownership, free and clear of all encumbrances to SCGS for any beneficial use determined by the Society, including disposition of the donated items should they now be, or later become, surplus to the Society's needs.

6. Temporary loans from individuals.

SCGS will not be responsible for any items that are damaged or stolen while in the possession of the Society. The Society will not be responsible for repairs or replacement. Any loaned material may be removed from the collection at any time after giving 30 days notice to the Society. If said items are not removed from the collection by the owner or their heirs (within one year of their death) they shall become the property of the Society.

Accepted and adopted by the SCGS Board July 15, 2004