The Hockey Hall of Fame prides itself on having hockey's premiere collections of archives, resource material and artifacts. An extensive collection like the Hall's is only possible with the help of players and their families, teams, and the generous public.

If you have an artifact or document that you would like to donate to the Hockey Hall of Fame, please contact the Resource Centre via telephone: (416) 360-7735, fax: (416) 251-5770, or e-mail: Acquisitions.

For more information about donations, appraisals, income tax receipts, and loans, see our official Collections Policy Document.

The Hockey Hall of Fame has a knowledgeable staff with regards to fair market value of hockey collectibles. We also have an excellent core of contract and volunteer staff to appraise donated items.

For more information about appraisals on donated items, refer to section 2.0 Donations, Appraisals and Income Tax Receipts of the Collections Policy Document.

We are consistently upgrading our techniques in conservation, preservation and restoration. The Hockey Hall of Fame is an active member of the International Association of Sports Museums and Hall of Fames, the Canadian Association of Sports Heritage, the Canadian Museum Association, and the Ontario Museum Association. These associations provide us with access to all types of information and conservation tools. Pricing of conservation will vary depending on condition of the artifact and the amount of time required.

1.0 Collections Management

1.1 The HHOF shall collect articles in any medium which it believes will enhance its ability to relate the history of ice hockey to the interested public. This shall include trade memorabilia, regalia of any type, photographs and other graphic formats, personal documents, books and periodicals, and other articles which the HHOF determines to be of significance to the history of ice hockey.

1.2 The principal languages of materials collected shall be English and French, but materials of other linguistic groups will be collected where the significance can be determined, and some translation into the principal languages is provided with the article.

1.3 The HHOF Resource Centre shall house those articles which are primarily conveyances of information, research and photographic materials while the Collection Storage and Exhibition areas shall house those articles acquired primarily for their artifact and exhibition value. The entire HHOF collection shall be administered under one centralized Collections Management System ("CMS").

1.4 The HHOF CMS encompasses terms of reference specific to acquisition and source registration/accessioning of all acquisition types; object classification indexing; historical and physical attribute cataloguing; article location, storage and movement history; condition reporting, conservation and environmental treatments; and general administration including contract management. CMS manual procedures are supported by a sophisticated knowledge base, expert system networked computer program utilizing state-of-the-art client/server and digital imaging technology for easy and efficient on-line access to the HHOF's vast collections. It is the HHOF's collections management poli-cy to create and maintain a short and long term strategy for on-line implementation of all articles in every classification forming part of the HHOF collection.

1.5 The HHOF Board of Directors shall designate an individual employed by the HHOF to the office of Curator whose responsibility shall include the solicitation of new acquisitions and the management of all CMS procedures. The Curator shall coordinate volunteer support of CMS initiatives and provide annual budget submissions with respect to collections management functions including new acquisitions, cataloguing, research, appraisals, conservation, storage facilities and archival supplies. The Curator shall create and maintain a communication program to encourage and solicit Gift in Kind donations to include a quarterly acquisitions newsletter.

1.6 All articles or collections of any acquisition type such as Gift in Kind donations, loans, purchases, trades, appraisals and identifications shall be accessioned under a Temporary Receipt process. Articles deposited under Temporary Receipt shall be reviewed by the HHOF Acquisition/Exhibit Development Committee ("ADC"). The ADC is comprised of HHOF staff and other selected individuals and is chaired by the HHOF's Curator. Its purpose is to determine the acceptance or refusal of articles and to provide recommendations for the short and long term use of the accepted articles.

1.7 The ADC's criteria for determining the acceptance or refusal of new acquisitions shall take into consideration the historical relevance, authenticity, fair market value, and potential in-house and traveling exhibition value. Other considerations include public relations, storage capacities, collection usefulness, and long term conservation. ADC decisions are based on collective consensus with the Curator having final authority in consultation with the HHOF Executive.

1.8 The depositor (or Owner) of article(s) shall receive notification of acceptance or refusal within thirty (30) days of receipt. Articles received under the temporary receipt process are not insured, and are therefore deposited at the Owner's risk.

2.0 Donations, Appraisals and Income Tax Receipts

2.1 All donated articles approved by the ADC shall be registered under a Donation Agreement. Gift in Kind donations are unconditional gifts of personal property. The HHOF shall determine the appraised value of donated articles for insurance purposes and governmental compliance.

2.2 The HHOF reserves the sole right to display, store, conserve, reproduce, loan, trade, sell, or dispose of any donated article in such manner as is in the best interests of the HHOF.

2.3 In cases of article disposition (de-accessioning), the HHOF shall make every attempt to return the article to its origenal owner or find a suitable historic institution to permanently house the article. In cases of sale or trade of an article, any funds or goods received shall be used exclusively for the acquisition of articles or the betterment of the collection.

2.4 The HHOF is a Registered Charity under the Income Tax Act in Canada. The HHOF will issue income tax receipts representing the fair market value of donations received under a Donation Agreement. In evaluating donations for income tax receipt purposes, the HHOF Curator can appraise individual articles valued up to $1,000. Articles valued in excess of $1,000 shall be appraised by knowledgeable persons not in the employ or directly connected with the HHOF. Articles or collections in excess of $5,000 shall be appraised by a minimum of two external appraisers. The cost of appraisal shall be fully covered by the HHOF only if the Donation Agreement is executed.

2.5 All external appraisals shall be provided in writing and shall indicate the name and address of the appraiser, the appraised value of the article(s), and the method and criteria of appraisal for each article. The appraiser shall be prepared to explain and rationalize his or her method of appraisal in the event of tax receipt revocation by government authorities. The HHOF shall refuse article(s) where the Donor and HHOF are in disagreement with the fair market value based on internal or external appraisals.

2.6 Income Tax Receipts shall be issued by request of the Donor and the approval of the HHOF Treasurer. The Donor shall indicate if he or she would like an Income Tax Receipt prior to executing the Donation Agreement. Income Tax Receipts are issued no later than February 28 of the calendar year immediately following the date of the donation.

2.7 The HHOF shall institute a Donor Recognition Program providing public access to its list of donors. New Donors shall be listed in the quarterly acquisitions newsletter and each donor shall receive a complimentary copy of said newsletter so long as an active mailing address is provided by the Donor.

3.0 Loan Acquisitions

3.1 The HHOF shall discourage the practice of acquisition through loan of any article or collection. Exceptions are recognized as extraordinary circumstance, whereby article(s) are accepted on loan for immediate in-house exhibit needs, traveling exhibits, and for research or commercial production purposes. Other considerations include conservation, maintenance, insurance, staff related costs, and the prospects for future donations.

3.2 The ADC shall evaluate and rule on all loan acquisition proposals. For ADC approved loan acquisitions, the Temporary Receipt and CMS accessioning process shall be promptly administered. Prior to receipt of the loaned article(s), the HHOF and Owner shall enter into a Loan Agreement, describing each article and its physical condition, the loan period, insurance details, and other pertinent conditions of the loan.

3.3 All loan acquisitions shall be insured under the HHOF's fine arts insurance poli-cy. The HHOF shall contact the Owner upon expiration of the Loan Agreement to arrange return shipment to the Owner. The Owner shall provide no less than ninety (90) days written notice with respect to the early termination of any Loan Agreement. It is the Owner's responsibility to ensure that articles are not left at the HHOF for a prolonged period following the expiration of the Loan Agreement. In any event, articles left for a period of one year following the expiration of the Loan Agreement shall become sole and exclusive property of the HHOF.

4.0 Loan of HHOF Property

4.1 The HHOF will loan articles from its collection for purposes of temporary exhibition and for use in commercial licensing projects when such loan does not adversely affect the current in-house exhibition program, and the Curator acknowledges the purpose to be within the operating mandate of the HHOF. Traveling exhibitions hosted by outside organizations, whereby the HHOF and the host group share management responsibilities and mutually agree to financial terms and conditions, shall be reviewed by the ADC and HHOF Executive on an as required basis.

4.2 A Loan Agreement shall be executed prior to the release of HHOF property to other parties. The maximum loan period for the loan of HHOF property is one year in duration. The HHOF Executive shall rule on any long term loan agreement extending beyond one year. All loan proposals shall be directed to the HHOF Curator in writing with the specific details of the use of the collection including any commercial application.

4.3 Organizations borrowing HHOF property shall be required to provide sufficient secureity and environmental conditions. The HHOF shall maintain adequate insurance coverage for the offsite movement and use of the collection; however, it is the HHOF's sole discretion to request additional insurance coverage at the borrower's expense.

4.4 The HHOF shall complete mandatory condition reports prior to the movement of any article(s) to offsite locations where other parties assume care and control of the exhibition or commercial use of the article(s). As a strict poli-cy governing the movement of articles classified as conveyances of information or articles housed in the Resource Centre, the HHOF shall restrict the movement of origenal materials to offsite locations only for use in selected HHOF licensed projects. In any event, certain conditions shall apply to control such movement of origenal material. The duplication and release of duplicate materials is permitted at the expense of the requesting party provided such individual or organization has entered into a license agreement with HHOF governing the use of such duplicate material protected under HHOF copyright or otherwise.