To further the current debate regarding the need for a broad based
competance in management/finance/HR for the museum professional could I
point you towards a number of UK websites where the issue has been debated
and plans are in place for this topic to be given some considerable
prominence. The basic overall government thinking was that despite vast sums
of taxpayers money going into "Culture" the outputs and outcomes were
varied, overbudget, and often well out of time. In addition there was a
growing trend to produce figures, league tables, performance indicators  and
the like across all sectors of government.


The main cause was identified in a general lack of management and financial
skills in the sector and in their governing bodies. The then Museum Training
Institute published the "Holland Report"  about 8 years ago strongly
recommended better  and more structured training in this area.  This body is
now The Cultural Heritage National Training Organisation  (CHNTO) at
www.chnto.co.uk and deals with the management topic. Another central
government sponsored body was called the Museums and Galleries Commission
(MGC ) at www.museums.gov.uk , it is now called the Council for Museums,
Archives and Libraries (Re;source) at www.resource.gov.uk.


The central government body responsible for the cultural sector is  The
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) at www.culture.gov.uk   They
published in November 1999 a massive volume entitled " Efficiency and
Effectivness of Government Sponsored Museums" at
www.culture.gov.uk/heritage/index_flash.html  which really emphasises the
need for sound and prudent management.   In addition there are in place
funding agreements, structure plans, formal annual reports to a common
format, and statutary annual meetings. For museums operating in the local
government sector there is a parallel drive called "Best Value".

For those not familiar with this area in the UK I would hope that you can
take some time to look at some of the sites and, all things being equal, I
am willing to help out/translate some of the terminology and concepts.


Alan Lee

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