Cultural property, also referred to as tangible cultural heritage, includes movable or immovable property of cultural significance. It encompasses more than the visual arts as it extends to architecture, monuments, and archaeological artifacts, which may lack aesthetic appeal but provide valuable insights into ancient civilizations. For centuries such objects have been removed from their cultural context to foreign locations by thieves, collectors, and conquering armies. Individual countries and the international community have sought to protect cultural property and regulate its movement across borders through domestic laws and international conventions.
This guide is intended to assist researchers in accessing primary and secondary cultural property law materials in the Law Library's collections, as well as related materials on provenance, ethics, and museum management and practice in all of University of Iowa Library collections. This is a selective listing of the available resources so researchers should consult InfoHawk (the UI Libraries online catalog), indexes, and the Law Library's Reference staff as necessary to continue their research. Please note that the Art Library is now housed on the southwest side of the Main Library's 2nd floor.
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