Copy of my response sent to another list:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 16:10:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ann Harlow <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Assoc. of College & Univ. Museums & Galleries of New England List"
     <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: Multiple recipients of list ACUMGN-L <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: QUERY: university museums

Christine,

Your topic is an interesting one, and I was glad to see that ACUMGN-L is
still functioning (can anyone tell me why there seems to be so little
activity on this list?).  But I don't think you're likely to get very
good research results from your on-line survey--certainly not a
scientific sample of what university museums are like.  Most of us can't
take the time to respond to detailed, open-ended surveys like yours.  I
look at how the results are to be used, and if it appears they will be
published or used by the AAM for advocacy or otherwise of wide-ranging
benefit I try to cooperate.  But one of my concerns about yours, besides
questioning what kind of sample you'll get and how much time it would
take me to complete, is what relevance some of the questions have to the
"main idea" you cited about the need to serve the public as well as the
academic community.

My impression after 15-plus years of involvement in the academic museum
community (and ACUMG, of which I'm a past president) is that most of us
put lots of effort into relating to the outside community as well as the
internal one.  In fact, there is often a tendency to focus so much on
building up community attendance and support that the campus may feel a
little neglected.  We all try to strike a balance, with infinite
variations depending on the particular type and size of museum, parent
institution, geographic location, etc.

Victor Danilov, director of the Museum Management Program at the
University of Colorado, did an extensive survey of "University and
College Museums, Galleries, and Related Facilities" and recently
published a book by that title that summarizes the results and provides
1108 directory listings.  It's available from Greenwood Press,
800-225-5800, for $99.50 (maybe you can find it in a library).  It does
not provide statistical breakdowns, but cites lots of examples and
attempts to make some generalizations from the diverse data in chapters
such as "Exhibits and Public Programming," "Attendance, Marketing, and
Evaluation," "Status and the Future," etc.

Another source for general comments, a bibliography on university museums
and maybe past ACUMG newsletters is the current ACUMG president, Peter
Tirrell, 405-325-1009.  The Museum Reference Center at the Smithsonian
(202-357-2240) is a key source for information on the museum field in
general and no doubt has stuff like the 1986 survey "Current Issues in
University Museums."

Good luck with your project!

Ann Harlow, Director
Hearst Art Gallery
Saint Mary's College of California
Moraga, CA 94575-5110
510-631-4643/fax 510-376-5128
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