Dear Colleagues
(un texte français suivra sous peu)
Please make sure your voice - International
Committees, National Committees, Regional
Alliances, Standing Committees and all ICOM
members - is heard! Our message of September
7th on ICOM-L outlined how we are changing the
way ICOM develops its budgets, based on the
Strategic Plan. We need and want your ideas and help!
We have already had a number of responses - a
short synopsis of some of the points follows, in
NO order of priority. It is not too late - the
Secretariat will be meeting on this next week -
send us something (to the Treasurer at
[log in to unmask] plus to the Secretariat
at [log in to unmask]) by Tuesday the 25th
at 08:00 GMT + 1. We also expect to have a
second meeting mid-October when we will still be looking for ideas.
The Strategic Plan is your plan (see
www.icom.museum under Resources, and then at the
bottom of Strategic Plan 2001-2007 you will find
Our Global Vision: Strategic Plan 2008-2010 and
the detailed Plan if you do not have a paper
copy) - make the budget your budget
too. Remember this is for the next 3
years! Give the Advisory Committee ideas to
debate and recommend to the Executive over this
period as we make adjustments to each year's budget.
Some ideas already received, in point form
........ what would you like to add? These can
be totally informal - it does not have to be the single voice of a committee!
* support the development of regional
alliances and the further connection of affiliate organizations
* enable all ICOM to take advantage of
communication networks throughout the regions
* emphasize partnerships rather than than a
relationship of grantor and recipient
* ask ICs beforehand what their priorities
are so that important project funding is not
missed because the subject needed does not fit
within the established framework
* rethink the funding of ICs
* sharing of membership fees
* put forward a short list of pertinent
issues or questions that ICs would like to receive suggestions or proposals on
* a new subvention (sharing) system from
ICOM’s membership fees income (e.g. basic rate +
high membership support + extra support for
* tangible productions (e.g. peer-reviewed
publications) Any new system should be a rewarding one, not punishing
* preserve/improve the voice of ICs in a reorganized Advisory Committee
* increase the transparency of the project
granting process (e.g. evaluation reports with
explicit mentioning of weak and strong points)
* catalyst in collaborations between ICs and
their substructures in-between ICOM’s Triennial Congresses
* improve the registration process for
members of ICs (e.g. centralized pre-registration
for ICOM/ICOM-IC at ICOM web site; short notice
verification of candidate by relevant National
Committee; acceptance/rejection of preliminary
registration; registration in the ICOM membership
database and reminder for IC connectivity at regular intervals
* improve communication between ICs and central secretariat services
* recognize that ICOM support can encompass
museum studies programs (most museum studies
programs relate to ICOM but are not aware that
they can apply to subventions concerning
publications of their academic production - and how to do it
* offer some specific financial support for
publications related to museums studies programs
in different regions of the world
* if paper printing proves to be outrageously
expensive, publications could be produced in CD
ROM format, with ISBN, or even .pdf on the web
* international committees' academic and/or
technical production/projects that raise the
level of awareness about museum standards
* diversification of experiences has not yet
attained its maximum within ICOM: it must be
understood by members in all regions that not
always the best and highest standards are set by
museums in the first world - and that many
technical solutions may be simple, inexpensive,
intelligent procedures, very much at hand in
smaller, less developed countries and/or museums
..... open a specific budget for publications
related to those simple procedures, reported by
professionals actually involved in those works -
with regional, sub-regional or hemispherical perspectives.
* a wider space must be open for
professionals from developing countries and/or
minority groups, who have practical experiences to relate.
* funds for cross-cultural meetings and/or
training experiences, at all levels, specially in less developed countries
* make clear to all members that the highest
standards in museums relate to ethics, at all times
* when evaluating the mentoring grants for
regular members, there should be a mechanism to
acknowledge who are the members in real need of
sponsorship. A good alternative could be to give
priority to members who do not occupy important
positions in museums, and therefore receive lower
salaries; another alternative could be to ask the
candidate what has been his/her professional
production in the field, in the past
year. National committees should be oriented to
consider the ethical implications of indicating
members that do not really need sponsorship.
* should there be a restriction for
sponsorship of those who are chairs of national
committees and/or members of national boards?
* international committees should also
receive at least one grant per year, for regular
members from developing countries.
* mentoring grants for young members have
proven to be a successful experience .... must be reinforced from now on.
Thank you very much to everyone who has
contributed so far. We can never have too many ideas!!
Nancy Hushion
Treasurer, ICOM
20 Avoca Avenue
Suite 1504
Toronto, ON, M4T 2B8
Canada
T. 1 416 351 0216
F. 1 416 929 2182
Email [log in to unmask]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
archives at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html
|