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Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 15:08:19 -0500
From: "Edward M. Maldonado" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: MAP and Accrditation
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: Aron Mohr <[log in to unmask]>
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Hello Ms. Holcomb,

Your e-mail was forwarded to me by a colleague  who is aware of my
participation in both the AAM Accreditation process and MAP. As a one time
surveyor, I regard the MAP process as a very good program which, as you
described well, "helps to identify strengths and weaknesses and plan for
your future". I think the simplest way to describe MAP is to think of it as
an assessment process which helps you to look at how your museum is
currently running and where there are improvements to be made. In my
experience, most small museums are comparable in their strengths and
weaknesses. What they sometimes need is a strategic plan to plot their
future growth. Creating a strategic plan is an important process in its own
right - building consensus among board members and clarifying the immediate
and long term needs of a museum.

As far as museum operations go, MAP surveyors identify the key strengths of
a museum and identify where there might be holes in policy papers such as
ethics policy, if they think organizations need to readdress their mission
statements, or on rare occasions, if there is a major flaw in how things are
being handled. Occasionally some boards have not gotten around to thinking
about their museum being a public trust and MAP surveyors often help to
point out why this is something important to really consider in their vision
and mission statements.

You have to remember that a surveyor in for MAP has only two to three days
to look at everything you do. So it is best if you provide as much
information as possible prior to the visit so they can assess you fairly.
After, surveyors are charged with the responsibility to make recommendations
based on what they find. But these recommendations are really for the
museum. The AIM will examine these recommendations and forward them to you.
Thereafter, the AIM will remain available to you to provide guidance and
assistance as you further develop the organization. You do not have to do
anything if you chose not to or you can move further based on those
recommendations. The whole process is voluntary on your part. Essentially,
MAP provides you with a very good snapshot to see where you are, with the
added bonus that someone will make informed recommendations for you to
consider.

As far as the Accreditation process goes, on the surface it look much like
MAP but it is a more though process that requires more detailed information
before a site visit.  Usually, museums take on an Accreditation process
after they have completed a strategic plan. Strategic planning and
Accreditation have some similarities in so far as they really focus on
assessing where museum is at.
However, Accreditation is a process which measures your strengths and
weaknesses in order to see how you operate as a museum in every aspect --
collections, record keeping, financials, ethics polices, procedures, board
commitment, marketing, collections stewardship, etc. Both MAP and
Accreditation assess things on balance so that you can really understand
where you are. But the purpose of Accreditation is to see if your museum
measures up to a "standard".  That standard is based on how well we serve
the public good and we do that by striving to run a museum that has key
features in place.

It is a longer process but extremely worthwhile. I currently run a small
house museum in Chicago with a staff of three and 35 volunteers. We are part
of the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Chicago. The Accreditation
process was difficult but I had the support of board members and members of
a larger city staff. I had the responsibility of writing and coordinating
the whole thing from my office. What I did was to set up a team of people
who agreed to review and edit my work and provide me with all the
information as I requested it. After writing out each section, I would
review the materials with the appropriate team members. This process gave us
all a buy-in in terms of both vision and content. In the midst of the
Accreditation we also undertook a strategic plan which helped to identify
strengths, weaknesses, and goals. This became part of the matrix of
information which we utilized for the Accreditation. The Accreditation
was an important way to see if our house was in order in the way that we
would like to think it is: was our mission solid; was our scholarship
correct; was our outreach and education materials where we wanted them to
be; was our collection and collection records in order; finances; board
commitment & stewardship, etc.

We reviewed by two members of the AAM who themselves are directors of
similar types of museums. They were very thorough and frank in there overall
assessment when they met with me and some of our key people. Their
recommendations were insightful and well informed and they were very
professional in their dealings with all of our team members. FYI, many of
the goals we outlined in our Accreditation materials have been implemented
so the process was helpful in setting benchmarks.  I also shared some of the
lessons I got from the Accreditation with colleagues who run local
non-profits because these types of organizations have some of the same goals
and responsibilities we do. My point here is that what you find in the
Accreditation and MAP process is similar to what most organizations and even
businesses have to do in order to become better at what they do.

But again, this is all voluntary. No one makes anyone do anything . The AAM
is not in the business of tearing anything apart. More than any other museum
organization, I think the AAM realizes that there are many museums in the
U.S. who do a great service to our citizens by taking on the responsibility
of preserving and presenting the collections they have to all who are
interested. The AAM there to help build up museums and as you get to know
them you realize they are good partners for the long run. They will even
come to you on occasion because they recognize you may have something to
offer that other museums can learn from.

Our goal for choosing to do an Accreditation was to be sure that we met
certain standards of museum work and that we were up to date in all that we
do. We want to be a good institution in all that might mean, practice good
stewardship, and that other museums  recognize we have set standards they
can count on. We will go through Accreditation process again in another few
years and I think we'll be prepared. I also suspect that your museum is
better prepared for MAP than it realizes. So I hope you can convince your
director of the value of MAP. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't taste bad, its not
medicine - your not sick. You might need to clean your lenses if you wear
glasses - if only to see the details better.

Edward Maldonado,
Curator
Clarke House Museum (Chicago's Oldest House)


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