The Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Technical Museum) and the Österreichische Mediathek (Austrian Media Library) regard the legal charge of making the evidence entrusted to them accessible to a wide audience as a task of great benefit to the public.
It is accustomed to exchanging objects with museums and cultural and academic facilities at home and abroad. A department of the object and archive-material management group organises the loan of items from the collection on the basis of international museum standards. The Technisches Museum manages the collections owned by the Republic of Austria and must maintain strict standards.
A loan procedure starts on the receipt by the management of a written loan request. Then a list of objects is drawn up in discussions with the manager of that area. The restorers responsible provide expert advice on these items and clarify whether the objects are capable of being loaned or whether measures have to be taken regarding the objects. As a result of this, important points, such as the organisation of transport and inspection of the exhibition space regarding security and climate, are specified in the loan agreement.
The loan costs arise from the expense of object handling, the drafting of the loan agreement, any costs for the conservation/restoration (including the drafting of the condition log) and insurance of the object. In addition, the Technisches Museum reserves the right to charge a loan fee. Within the scope of the cultural mandate, attempts are made to keep the costs as low as possible for organisations that benefit the public.
The procedure for a domestic loan will take at least two months. In the case of a large number of objects, or if the procedure is for a loan abroad, this period will extend to at least three months. An early loan request is always advisable due to a laborious restoration possibly being required.
On request and at a cost charged to the borrowing facility, the Technisches Museum can also provide photo templates for publications and for the purposes of information and advertising (brochures, press).
