§ 79.4 - Definitions.

§ 79.4 Definitions.

As used for purposes of this part:

Associated records means original records (or copies thereof) that are prepared, assembled and document efforts to locate, evaluate, record, study, preserve or recover a prehistoric or historic resource. Some records such as field notes, artifact inventories and oral histories may be originals that are prepared as a result of the field work, analysis, and report preparation. Other records such as deeds, survey plats, historical maps and diaries may be copies of original public or archival documents that are assembled and studied as a result of historical research. Classes of associated records (and illustrative examples) that may be in a collection include, but are not limited to:

(1) Records relating to the identification, evaluation, documentation, study, preservation, or recovery of a resource (such as site forms, field notes, drawings, maps, photographs, slides, negatives, films, video and audio cassette tapes, oral histories, artifact inventories, laboratory reports, computer cards and tapes, computer disks and diskettes, printouts of computerized data, manuscripts, reports, and accession, catalog, and inventory records);

(2) Records relating to the identification of a resource using remote sensing methods and equipment (such as satellite and aerial photography and imagery, side scan sonar, magnetometers, subbottom profilers, radar, and fathometers);

(3) Public records essential to understanding the resource (such as deeds, survey plats, military and census records, birth, marriage and death certificates, immigration and naturalization papers, tax forms and reports);

(4) Archival records essential to understanding the resource (such as historical maps, drawings and photographs, manuscripts, architectural and landscape plans, correspondence, diaries, ledgers, catalogs, and receipts); and

(5) Administrative records relating to the survey, excavation, or other study of the resource (such as scopes of work, requests for proposals, research proposals, contracts, antiquities permits, reports, documents relating to compliance with section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f), and National Register of Historic Places nomination and determination of eligibility forms).

Collection means material remains that are excavated or removed during a survey, excavation, or other study of a prehistoric or historic resource, and associated records that are prepared or assembled in connection with the survey, excavation, or other study.

Curatorial services means managing and preserving a collection according to professional museum and archival practices, including, but not limited to:

(1) Inventorying, accessioning, labeling, and cataloging a collection;

(2) Identifying, evaluating, and documenting a collection;

(3) Storing and maintaining a collection using appropriate methods and containers, and under appropriate environmental conditions and physically secure controls;

(4) Periodically inspecting a collection and taking such actions as may be necessary to preserve it;

(5) Providing access and facilities to study a collection; and

(6) Handling, cleaning, stabilizing, and conserving a collection in such a manner to preserve it.

Departmental Consulting Archeologist means the individual serving as the agent of the Secretary of the Interior in overseeing and coordinating the Department's archeological activities.

Federal Agency Official means any officer, employee or agent officially representing the secretary of the department or the head of any other agency or instrumentality of the United States having primary management authority over a collection that is subject to this part.

Indian lands has the same meaning as in § -.3(e) of uniform regulations 43 CFR part 7, 36 CFR part 296, 18 CFR part 1312, and 32 CFR part 229.

Indian tribe has the same meaning as in § -.3(f) of uniform regulations 43 CFR part 7, 36 CFR part 296, 18 CFR part 1312, and 32 CFR part 229.

Material remains means artifacts, objects, specimens, and other physical evidence that are excavated or removed in connection with efforts to locate, evaluate, document, study, preserve or recover a prehistoric or historic resource. Classes of material remains (and illustrative examples) that may be in a collection include, but are not limited to:

(1) Components of structures and features (such as houses, mills, piers, fortifications, raceways, earthworks, and mounds);

(2) Intact or fragmentary artifacts of human manufacture (such as tools, weapons, pottery, basketry, and textiles);

(3) Intact or fragmentary natural objects used by humans (such as rock crystals, feathers, and pigments);

(4) By-products, waste products or debris resulting from the manufacture or use of man-made or natural materials (such as slag, dumps, cores and debitage);

(5) Organic material (such as vegetable and animal remains, and coprolites);

(6) Human remains (such as bone, teeth, mummified flesh, burials, and cremations);

(7) Components of petroglyphs, pictographs, intaglios, or other works of artistic or symbolic representation;

(8) Components of shipwrecks (such as pieces of the ship's hull, rigging, armaments, apparel, tackle, contents, and cargo);

(9) Environmental and chronometric specimens (such as pollen, seeds, wood, shell, bone, charcoal, tree core samples, soil, sediment cores, obsidian, volcanic ash, and baked clay); and

(10) Paleontological specimens that are found in direct physical relationship with a prehistoric or historic resource.

Personal property has the same meaning as in 41 CFR 100-43.001-14. Collections, equipment (e.g., a specimen cabinet or exhibit case), materials and supplies are classes of personal property.

Provenience information means recorded data about the physical location of an object as it was found during a survey, excavation, or other study of a prehistoric or historic resource.

Public lands has the same meaning as in § -.3(d) of uniform regulations 43 CFR part 7, 36 CFR part 296, 18 CFR part 1312, and 32 CFR part 229.

Qualified museum professional means a person who possesses knowledge, experience and demonstrable competence in museum methods and techniques appropriate to the nature and content of the collection under the person's management and care, and commensurate with the person's duties and responsibilities. Standards that may be used, as appropriate, for classifying positions and for evaluating a person's qualifications include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The Office of Personnel Management's “Position Classification Standards for Positions under the General Schedule Classification System” (U.S. Government Printing Office, stock No. 906 - 028-00000-0 (1981)) are used by Federal agencies to determine appropriate occupational series and grade levels for positions in the Federal service. Occupational series most commonly associated with museum work are the museum curator series (GS/GM-1015) and the museum technician and specialist series (GS/GM-1016). Other scientific and professional series that may have collateral museum duties include, but are not limited to, the archivist series (GS/GM-1420), the archeologist series (GS/GM-193), the anthropologist series (GS/GM-190), and the historian series (GS/GM-170). In general, grades GS-9 and below are assistants and trainees while grades GS-11 and above are professionals at the full performance level. Grades GS-11 and above are determined according to the level of independent professional responsibility, degree of specialization and scholarship, and the nature, variety, complexity, type, and scope of the work.

(2) The Office of Personnel Management's “Qualification Standards for Positions under the General Schedule (Handbook X-118)” (U.S. Government Printing Office, stock No. 906-030-00000-4 (1986)) establish educational, experience and training requirements for employment with the Federal Government under the various occupational series. A graduate degree in museum science or applicable subject matter, or equivalent training and experience, and three years of professional experience are required for museum positions at grades GS-11 and above.

(3) The “Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation” (48 FR 44716, Sept. 29, 1983) provide technical advice about archeological and historic preservation activities and methods for use by Federal, State, and local Governments and others. One section presents qualification standards for a number of historic preservation professions. While no standards are presented for collections managers, museum curators or technicians, standards are presented for other professions (i.e., historians, archeologists, architectural historians, architects, and historic architects) that may have collateral museum duties.

(4) Copies of the Office of Personnel Management's standards, including subscriptions for subsequent updates, may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. Copies may be inspected at the Office of Personnel Management's Library, 1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC, at any regional or area office of the Office of Personnel Management, at any Federal Job Information Center, and at any personnel office of any Federal agency. Copies of the “Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation” are available at no charge from the Interagency Resources Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127.

Religious remains means material remains that the Federal Agency Official has determined are of traditional religious or sacred importance to an Indian tribe or other group because of customary use in religious rituals or spiritual activities. The Federal Agency Official makes this determination in consultation with appropriate Indian tribes or other groups.

Repository means a facility such as a museum, archeological center, laboratory, or storage facility managed by a university, college, museum, other educational or scientific institution, a Federal, State, or local Government agency or Indian tribe that can provide professional, systematic, and accountable curatorial services on a long-term basis.

Repository Official means any officer, employee or agent officially representing the repository that is providing curatorial services for a collection that is subject to this part.

Tribal Official means the chief executive officer or any officer, employee or agent officially representing the Indian tribe.

[87 FR 22457, Apr. 15, 2022]