n. (also exhibits policy)a directive governing borrowing, lending, and/or exhibiting archival holdingsRitzenthaler 2010, 286An institution’s exhibit policy should limit the length of time that original materials can be exhibited.Ritzenthaler 2010, 290–291A policy statement that describes requirements and conditions of loan should be available to potential borrowers. This document should be part of the institution’s written exhibit policy and should be used when evaluating loan applications.Lacher-Feldman 2013, 53In approaching exhibits, it is both useful and, in fact, essential to consider your overall exhibit policy. . . . As archives professionals, we have the responsibility to craft and administer exhibits policies that assure the protection of special collections materials and advance the overall mission and goals of special collections. If there is no overall exhibition policy within your parent institution or unit, it is important to advocate for one. . . . An exhibits policy can focus the work that you do with your exhibits and serve as a mechanism to make exhibit development one of the core activities of the archival repository.Hackbart-Dean, Barcelona, and Hamilton-Brehm 2023, 606The widespread lack of formal policies or guidelines demonstrated by the survey, with only 22 (16.79%) respondents reporting having a formal policy and/or guidelines, was attributed to staffing and knowledge/experience limitations, followed by technical and financial challenges. However, some reported hesitation to adapt physical exhibit policies or otherwise develop online exhibit policies due to a perceived need to maintain flexibility in the creation and management of exhibits. The 28 respondents working on guidelines indicated that policies and best practices are perceived as valuable for managing online exhibits.
