I, too, initially thought of the what is now called the National Association of State Museum Associations, but their focus is on the issues facing state-wide museum organizations, rather than the issues that face individual "official" state museums. The Field Services Alliance is also similar in that it is comprised of organizations, very often part of state historical societies or museums, that provide hands-on assistance and advice to museums within their state or region. (BTW FSA can be contacted via Andy Verhoff at the Ohio Historical Society, [log in to unmask]). This sounds more like ACUMG (Association of College and University Museums and Galleries)whose members also share the "challenges" of being part of a college or university and governed by a Board of Trustees whose main responsibility (and sometimes interest) is running an institution of higher education and NOT a museum. (For those interested in ACUMG membership contact Lisa Hanover at the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, [log in to unmask]) (The following is shameless self-promotion): One place a state museum organization might begin to organize (if there is interest) is at a session at this year's AAM Meeting sponsored by the Small Museum Administrators Committee (SMAC-AAM): "Do We Have A Board? Governance in Non-Traditional Museums" scheduled for 2:15 on Sunday, May 18. Panelists will include representatives of college, municipal and corporate museums, all of which are part of larger (non-museum-focused) entities (and yes, for more information on SMAC-AAM, contact me off-list). I'd be interested in hearing what kind of response you get and would be glad to hear more about it off-list. You might also want to get in touch with Beth Merritt at AAM ([log in to unmask]) who shares my interest in "non-traditional" governance issues. janice Janice Klein Chair, SMAC-AAM Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College [log in to unmask] www.mitchellmuseum.org ========================================================= 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).