I couldn't open my own attachment so I am sending again with the responses in-text. See below.
To those who might be interested, I have compiled the responses to my inquiry. Sorry that I had no time to summarize, but really, the answers are concise and there are only 4.
If there is anyone who might have more information, please respond.
Best regards, Karen
Valuation of Archival Collections
1. an appraiser told me in the mid-1990s that a good general rule for pricing manuscript collections is $1/page, which can be calculated by counting the leaves in a typical inch of papers from the collection. most of what you have in archives if probably irreplaceable. So, that's hard to valuate. I can tell you what at my last institution our storage facility (owned by a university consortium) was charging for what they thought were lost boxes (things that we had checked out of the system for longer than the system liked) - $125 per box. I mean, the reality is that what you have you likely can't duplicate, so you just have to come up with some number that if you ever had to start again, you could make some attempt to do so.
2. Your question about appraising collections for insurance values has been often discussed on Exlibris, another discussion list that concerns rare books. The consensus seems to be that the only way to do such a process in reality is to get people to appraise parts of the collection (high spots, samples, etc.) and then project a total value from that figure. It's almost impossible to evaluate everything in a collection that is of any size at all, although it really could be done given enough time and money. After you've gotten the initial value, then you usually add a number every year (say 5%) to account for inflation, etc. One important consideration, no matter what route you choose, is to get a qualified appraiser; staff opinions rarely count.
3. One ironic situation in some of the institutions that ask for insurance appraisals is that they really have no collections insurance in the first place. They're all self insurers with no insurance except for property insurance. They have no collections insurance and don't intend to buy any, mostly because the premium is breathtaking. That is especially true of state institutions.
4. In response to your ListServ query, before you go to the trouble of determining a value, please ask the insurance agent, or your university's risk manager to tell you the basis for payment in the event of loss. Typical choices are:
1) "replacement cost" -- a moot point for irreplaceable manuscript collections;
2) "guaranteed replacement cost" - the company will pay replacement even if it exceeds the limit of insurance;
3) "actual cash value" -- also a moot point since it begins with replacement cost; depreciation is applied to the "replacement cost", thus, for old papers, the loss payment would be about zero;
4) "cost to replace blank media and reproduce data" -- this is generally used for "Valuable Papers" which actually refers to what we would call disaster recovery back ups and items such as deeds, blueprints, etc.; risk managers/insurance buyers at some institutions and some insurance agents don't understand that our archival collections are not the same type property as the insurance term "Valuable Papers";
5) "agreed amount", "Agreed value", or "stated amount" are typically used interchangeably - you and the insurance company "agree" that your collection is worth x dollars; normally you would come up with the figure; this is generally the valuation choice most suitable for archives;
6) "fair market value" - rarely used in insurance terminology and is basically the same valuation process as # 5;
7) Some other valuation, and, if so, what.
As to establishing the value, I doubt that anyone can give you a foolproof formula for determining the value of archival collections. Here are some considerations. It may help to list collections or portions thereof in relative valuation categories: intrinsic value, informational value (e.g. oral histories), convenience value (probably your subject and biographical files). The first one may be the only one worth placing a value on. Ask yourself if any of the items can be found elsewhere or if the information could be reconstructed from other sources. Do you have items with individual historical value, e.g. with Pasteur's signature, or is the value solely in the information contained in the collection? Even if the information is unique, is it truly valuable - would anyone pay a nickel for a professor's class notes? Would a researcher ever use them as a significant part of their publication? I believe we sometimes think that a collection is valuable only because it exists nowhere else. Is a collection worth anything if no one uses, or is likely to use, it? Is it likely that a willing buyer can be found within a reasonable period of time? If not, then perhaps we shouldn't even bother to determine a value for that collection or for portions of it.
That said, there is probably some value to your institution's prestige by having your archive and certain collections. Can your admissions department perhaps give you an idea of the number of students whose decision to attend your university is determined in part by the existence of your archive? Can the faculty search committee(s) tell you how often your holdings are a factor in a professor's decision to join your university? Can your development office supply data showing donations received at least in part because you have certain collections? In accounting methodology, "goodwill" is an asset that reflects the worth a company derives from its name recognition, business practices, and other intangibles. If your university has a CPA on staff, perhaps in the finance department, maybe they could contribute their ideas about equating the "goodwill" value of your archive into a dollar figure. Add that to whatever intrinsic value you develop for specific collections or items.
Some collections or items may be so rare that it would be worth having an appraiser evaluate them.
a) often a donor will have obtained an appraisal for their tax purposes and will provide a copy to the institution;
b) state museums usually have a list of qualified appraisers they are willing to share;
c) professional trade organizations such as the American Society of Appraisers http://www.appraisers.org/ and the International Society of Appraisers http://www.isa-appraisers.org/ have databases searchable by type of property and location;
d) some large universities have lists of appraisers on their websites, such as University of Virginia http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/services/appraiser.html and University of North Carolina http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/appraise.html and Johns Hopkins http://www.library.jhu.edu/collections/gifts/appraisers.html;
e) Antiques Roadshow maintains links to appraisers affiliated with their program, for example http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/series/appraisers/f-k/kiffer.html and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/series/appraisers/l-r/massey.html.
A few other tips:
i) insure your replaceable items such as archival boxes, copy paper, Mylar, tools, shelving, etc. as a separate item from your collections, preferably for
"replacement cost";
ii) make archival copies of as much as you can afford to do; scan photographs;
iii) copy audio/video tapes; and, whether paper or electronic, keep at least one copy off-site in a secure location if possible; at least you can save the informational value even if the original item is gone and perhaps you won't need to worry about setting a high enough value on the originals;
iv) multiply whatever value you come up with by a percentage to account for
inflation between the time you establish the value and the end of the policy term;
iv) be sure the policy has a provision for automatic adjustments (or set a higher initial limit) to take in to account new collections that may come in during the policy term, so you don't have to remember to call the agent and request an endorsement increasing the limit of insurance every time.
Karen Lea Anderson Peterson
Senior Research Assistant
Archivist
Oregon Health & Science University
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road
Mail Code: LIB
Portland, OR 97239-3098
Email: [log in to unmask]
Telephone: 503-494-3239
Fax: 503-418-0235
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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
*or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>