(A) Definitions.
(1) Museum. The term museum means a facility operated by an organized nonprofit institution, essentially educational or aesthetic in purpose, with professional staff, which owns and utilizes tangible objects, cares for them, and exhibits them to the public on some regular schedule.
(2) Organized institution. The term organized institution means an unincorporated association or a corporation formed under the laws of the State of New York.
(3) Professional staff. The term professional staff means at least one paid employee who commands an appropriate body of special knowledge and the ability to reach museological decisions consonant with the experience of his or her peers and who also has access to and acquaintance with the literature of the field.
(4) Care. The term care means the keeping of adequate records pertaining to the provenance, identification and location of a museum's holdings, and the application of current professionally accepted methods to their security and to the minimizing of damage and deterioration.
(5) Schedule. The term schedule means regular hours which constitute substantially more than a token opening, so that access is reasonably convenient to the public.
(B) Requirements for museum chartering.
(1) Provisional charters. To be eligible for a provisional charter, a museum shall have submitted evidence in writing which, in the judgment of Regents, makes it appear likely that the museum will be successful in achieving registration by the Board of Regents.
(2) Absolute charters. To be eligible for an absolute charter, a museum shall be registered by the Board of Regents.
(C) Use of name.
(1) The name of the museum shall be consistent with and clearly indicative of its purpose, and shall not be identical with or so similar to the name of any existing institution as to cause confusion between the proposed museum and any other institution incorporated under the laws of New York.
(D) Requirements for museum registration.
To be eligible for registration, a museum shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Staff. The staff of the museum shall be competent for the purposes of the museum and shall be capable of performing in accordance with currently accepted museological practices.
(2) Finances and income. The finances and income of the museum shall be adequate for the purposes of the museum.
(3) Physical facilities. The physical facilities of the museum shall be adequate for their purpose.
(4) Collections. The collections of the museum shall be adequate for the purposes of the museum.
(5) Care of collections. The museum shall provide for its collections care adequate for the purposes for the museum.
(6) Security. The museum shall provide security for its physical facilities and collections adequate for the purposes of the museum.
(7) Exhibitions. The exhibitions of the museum shall be adequate for its stated purpose, of educational value, and presented in a manner consonant with currently accepted museological practice.
(8) Other programs. The museum shall carry out all of its programs in a manner adequate for its purpose and consonant with currently acceptable museological practices.
(E) Annual reports.
An annual report shall be filed with the Commissioner of Education recording the educational and cultural activities of the museum and presenting an accurate statement of all financial operations. This report may be in a form prescribed by the Commissioner of Education.
