Below are the notes from the Roundtable on the Needs of Small Museums that
was held at the Association of Midwest Museum Annual Meeting Minneapolis in
November.
Please let me know (off-list) if you need a copy of the minutes from the
first meeting on this subject that was held in Washington in August.
Please feel free to comment (on-list) on the ideas contained herein.
And please, please feel free to disseminate this to any other lists,
individuals or newsletters that you think might be interested.
Many thanks,
janice
Janice Klein
Chair, SMAC-AAM
Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College
[log in to unmask]
www.mitchellmuseum.org
Roundtable on the Needs of Small Museums
Association of Midwest Museums Annual Meeting, Minneapolis MN
November 16, 2002
Present:
Martin DeWitt
Chair, Minnesota Association of Museums
Director and Curator, Tweed Museum of Art
10 University Drive
Duluth MN 55812-2496
Chen-Chih Chen
Taiwan Museum of Art
Bob Tesye
Milwaukee County Historical Society
Larry Hutchings
Carver County Historical Soicety
Chris Burda
Science Museum of Minnesota
Christine Henry
Program Officer, IMLS
Jennifer Kolb
Wisconsin Historical Museum
Claudia Jacobson
Vice Chair, Wisconsin Association of Museums
Registrar, Milwaukee Public Museum
Heather Berry
American Association of Museums
Janice Klein
Chair, SMAC-AAM
Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College
Janice Klein led the roundtable. Each participant was given a copy of the
minutes from the meeting on the needs of small museums held in August 2002
at the American Association of Museums, the Executive Summary from the AAM
Institutional Research Final Report (June 2002) and the Museum Section from
the IMLS 2002 Report on the Status of Technology and Digitization in the
Nation’s Museums and Libraries.
The goal of the roundtable was to add to the previous discussion in five
areas:
1. What is a “small museum”
2. What are the unmet needs of small museums
3. What resources currently exist to meet these needs that may need to be
better utilized
4. What resources need to be created
5. Where do we go from here
What is a “small museum”
1. Budget size - The AAM and IMLS “standard” of $250,000 is “enormous” for
many small museums
2. Attitude – small museums are perceived as unprofessional by the larger
institutions and by the general public
3. Staff size
4. Self-defined – a museum in a small market may have a greater importance
in the community and therefore see itself as a larger museum
5. Staff wears multiple hats
6. More volunteer-based
7. Not open on a regular schedule or has only limited hours
What are the unmet needs of small museums
1. Unaware of funding and training sources
2. Technology
3. Recognition – importance of their role to the community and state
4. Lack of repeat visitation
5. Difficulty in representing multiple perspectives due to homogeneity of
governance and support (funding, membership)
6. Money
7. Information sharing
- locally – for collaborations, “re-assurance”
- how-to’s
8. Access to training
- not enough money
- intimidation
- only staff member (can’t leave museum)
- distance
9. Board development
10. Auxilliary services
11. Programming and exhibit sophistication
- public expectations
- need to change periodically
12. Transition to professionalism
13. Time to complete grants, etc.
Perception that it is “too much”
14. Awareness of standards
What resources currently exist
1. Community colleges and Museum Studies programs
- technology classes and students
- libraries
- interns
2. Field Services and on-site services
- the most helpful existing resources
3. Mentoring programs
4. Focus at conferences
5. State/local grant programs
- particularly “mini-grants”
6. Federal grants (CAP, MAP)
- question about success of TAG program
7. Local businesses, community foundations, tourist bureaus
8. AAM
- Standing Professional Committees
- Professional Interest Committees
9. Regional museum associations
10. State museum associations
11. Management seminars
12. Associated organizations
- Museum Computer Network
What resources need to be created
1. Directory or clearing house of information and organizations
- “we don’t know each other”
2. Collaborations between larger and small institutions
- teach larger museums about
i. providing services (e.g., loans) to small museums
ii. resources and assets of small museum
- provide recognition and rewards to larger museums for assistance
- N.B. needs to be a way for smaller institutions to maintain identity
in collaborations
3. Money to get to existing resources
- use MCN model (waive registration fee for small museums)
- more scholarships
4. Rewards and recognition for increased professionalism
5. On-line training
6. More on-site training
7. Training for Boards of small institutions
Where do we go from here
1. Gather more information
- state museum association activities
- Field Service officer liaisons
- individual museums and staff (SMAC member survey)
i. ask same questions as roundtable discussion
ii. room for narrative
- best practices
- existing collaborations
2. Disseminate information
- CD Roms
- Networking
i. listservs
3. Article for Museum News on large-small museum collaborations and specific
strengths of small museums.
4. Roundtable at AAM Annual Meeting in Portland (Sunday, May 18)
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