Our policy allows loans to be made to institutions via a member of the staff of that institution for a period of six months subject to renewal. Factors limiting loans are: (1) failure to return previous material when requested, providing reasonable sufficient time has elapsed for study of the materials; (2) improper handling of specimens resulting in excessive and unreasonable damage exceeding the demands of the investigation, removal of catalog-tags, or other procedures that could adversely affect the documentation of the specimen; (3) improper procedures in packaging and returning the material; and (4) a request for an excessive number of specimens, either not justified by the nature of the investigation or which is simply beyond the ability of the Academy's staff to meet. |