For the record, the museum at Penn State is a beauty -- building is still quite new! The collections are uneven and don't know much about the exhibitions schedule (State College being a bit of a hike from here) but with the superior art and education departments they have, I'd expect that the shows are pretty good. Ellen Cutler Aberdeen, MD ----- Original Message ----- From: Ross Weeks <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 10:53 AM Subject: Re: Help defining professional museum standards > There must be a university museum at Penn State whose staff could help. The > last time I visited this museum, years ago, it was more of a curiosity > although I am sure it has developed further. > Ross Weeks Jr. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Daniel Uncles" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 6:45 PM > Subject: Help defining professional museum standards > > > > My Name is Daniel Uncles. I am a senior majoring in American Studies at > > Penn State University. > > Currently I am interning at the Boal Mansion Museum and Columbus Chapel in > > Boalsburg Pa. I am trying to define professional museum standards and see > > how our museum measures up to these standards. My first question is: Are > > there widely accepted museum standards? IF so how do you follow them? > > Let me tell you about our museum. The home was built in the 1790's and > > added onto in the 1890's. The museum includes a home; three outside > exhibit > > rooms, and the Columbus family Chapel. The Chapel contents come form the > > Columbus Castle in Asturias, Spain and were inherited in 1908 through a > > Columbus family connection. Among the contents of the chapel are an > > Admiral's Desk, which belonged to Christopher Columbus, European oil > > paintings and statues from the 14th through 17th centuries and two pieces > of > > the True Cross, which were given to the Columbus family in 1817 by the > > Bishop of Leon in Spain. > > The Museum contains the original furnishings, papers, portraits, tools and > > weapons of nine generations of the Boal Family, who were instrumental in > > building and shaping the central Pennsylvania region. We have many needs > > spanning form preservation to presentation. Every aspect of how our > museum > > is run must be reviewed and reconsider, from docent training and the tour > > script, to displays and security. If you have a historic house museum do > > you run programs at your site? Do you let people sit on the furniture? > Do > > you have a strict tour script, or do you have several scripts for varying > > groups? Do you have items that have been removed from display when their > > monetary or research value outweighs their display value? (Especially if > > they are not "shown" on the tour) Do museums keep rare books on > > bookshelves, or do they lend them to the local archives? How can you best > > cope with climate control and security when you have almost no budget? > How > > can you better approach fundraising? If anyone can help that would be > > greatly appreciated, even if you recommend a book we should purchase. > > Please respond to the list or personally at [log in to unmask] > > > > > > > > > > > > Thank You > > > > > > > > > > Daniel Uncles > > > > ========================================================= > > Important Subscriber Information: > > > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" > (without the quotes). > > > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff > Museum-L" (without the quotes). > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).