Artifacts Acquisition

Smithsonian Institution and Library of Congress Should Not Compete Gao ID: GGD-92-104 July 6, 1992

The Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress have competed for historic artifacts at least four times during the past five years, with one agency prevailing in each instance. The items at stake included manuscripts from Duke Ellington and other jazz artists as well as 19th century architectural renderings by James Renwick. In three of the four cases, one agency was willing to pay more than the amount being negotiated for an artifact--essentially "outbidding" its competitor. In the fourth instance, one agency unsuccessfully tried to raise money to match the amount offered by its competitor. Neither agency has formal policies to guard against interagency competition. The two agencies were in contact with one another concerning all four acquisitions, but only after negotiating independently with the sellers. The Library of Congress tried without success to reach a formal agreement with the Smithsonian on collecting roles. To prevent future competition, the two agencies need to adopt policies against such practices and to clarify collecting roles, particularly in the area of music where substantial overlap exists.

GAO found that: (1) in the past 5 years, LOC and the Smithsonian competed for historic artifacts four times; (2) the competition occurred when collection programs overlapped and the agencies' roles were unclear, in the area of jazz music in three cases and architectural drawings in the other case; (3) in three cases, the purchasing agency paid more for the artifact than the amount that was being negotiated by the other agency, and in the other case the nonacquiring agency was raising funds to offer the same amount as the acquiring agency; (4) NPS and NARA said they had not competed with each other or the Smithsonian in the past 5 years; and (5) the potential for competitive bidding by NPS and NARA is minimal due to their more clearly defined mandates and limited financial resources.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone:


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.