Tom Hanchett wrote: > > Dear friends -- > > I've been asked to draft an Exhibits Policy for our museum. Does anyone > have such a document that they might share? > > Or do you have a page outlining the steps by which your museum reviews > and decides upon exhibit topics? > Short of sharing a full document, could list members please simply list what areas and concerns they think should be covered in an exhibit policy document...? We could start with: Who or what group makes exhibit (or exhibition) recommendations; who reviews and makes final decisions. Mission statement; Criteria for how exhibits would be chosen or developed to meet the mission. (...Perhaps a check list would be useful with rating scale for such items as: "not relevant to our community" to "highly relevant"; exhibit materials and artifacts readily available (or not); amount of research required; etc.) ... Collection handling and care in exhibits, ... Label writing standards ... Suggestion of balance of artifacts vs graphics ... Something about use of effective interpretative techniques ... etc. Our mostly volunteer museum works extensively with other organizations in the community in developing (and installing) exhibits, and we also need to develop a policy document, with clear policy for authority and responsibility as well as policies for content and execution. Well, I've started the list and I'm hoping you all can feed in short lists of that which comes immediately to mind, as you did for the question on content of Board Manuals. That was very helpful. It allowed those of us who needed it to compile content as suited our own situation and needs. For those of us in volunteer run organizations, it is a big help to be able to take the information (even if we could have come up with it ourselves) and be able to say "this is what has come from museum professionals on Museum-L" Thanks, Lucy Sperlin Chico Museum Association Chico, CA ========================================================= 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).