Define the release decision
An acquisition review has closed, but collections-system exports, ownership deeds, acquisition correspondence, transfer confirmations and custody acknowledgements may have different retention triggers and hold requirements.
Map each provenance-record class to museum, cultural-property, audit, collections-policy, contractual and legal milestones before disposal.
Run the control sequence
- 01Identify the record class and the museum policy, collections rule, ownership restriction, audit requirement or professional advice controlling retention.
- 02Record the event that starts the period, such as submission, accession, transfer or acquisition acknowledgement or acquisition closure.
- 03Separate source evidence, working copies, acknowledgements and authorized recipient communications.
- 04Apply active restitution or title inquiry, litigation, fraud-review, title-review and contractual holds before disposal.
- 05Verify authorized disposition across devices, removable media, email and synchronized folders.
Preserve enough evidence
Record the provenance packet identifier, acquisition review, source device or system, export date, manifest, responsible custodian, authorized recipients, key location, encryption environment, recovery result, retention rule and next review date. Do not put passwords, recovery secrets or unnecessary ownership details in the decision record.
Keep the manifest, custodian, approved recipient, key-separation decision, restore result and retention owner together without copying ownership details into the record.
Keep surrounding controls visible
Deleting a vault item does not guarantee erasure from backups, recipient systems, SSD blocks or provider retention layers.
Provenance-export preparation can create extra copies on tablets, laptops, removable media, synchronization folders and recipient devices. The archive owner must address those copies separately and verify the current software release before relying on product behavior. Collections teams should also distinguish documentary confidentiality from physical-object security: encrypting provenance files does not protect an artifact, preserve chain of custody, establish title or resolve a restitution claim. Record who can approve an export, who can authorize access and who can change the collections-system master record.
Questions to ask
Should the archive password travel with the provenance packet?
No. Send the archive and its credential through separate approved channels, and verify the authorized recipient before release.
Does encryption make a provenance packet accurate or authorized?
No. Encryption restricts file access; it does not establish legal title, provenance authenticity, donor or seller consent, recipient authority or ownership and cultural-property duties.
Primary references
References support specific controls and do not imply endorsement.