Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums

Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums
Author: Kristy Van Hoven
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2016-01-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1442262524

We are in the middle of a museum paradigm shift and a new type of museum volunteer is emerging from the community. Non-profit volunteers are looking for unique and satisfying ways to engage in their communities and museums are primed to offer just the experiences these volunteers are looking for. Here’s a practical exploration of the differences between the “then” and “now” volunteers and solid advice on volunteer recruitment, communication, and retention strategies. Kristy Van Hoven and Loni Wellman will help you answer the questions: What are new volunteers looking for? What is their motivation? How can you spot the hidden gems in your local community? How can you develop a successful relationship with potential volunteers? How do you keep the museum volunteer motivated and happy? What can teens, adults and retiring professionals bring to your organization? How can your museum support a robust and active volunteer program? How do you reward volunteers and keep them for the long term? and, most importantly, How can you meet volunteer’s needs and still benefit from their work? The Guide highlights successful projects, incentives, and general museum culture which support volunteer activities and includes examples of Volunteer Job Descriptions, Calls for Volunteers, Evaluation forms, as well as volunteer project outlines. Written in a light hearted spirit, Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums: A Handbook to Volunteer Management will engage and inform any professional tasked with developing and managing a volunteer program at their institution. Museums offer an amazing array of volunteer opportunities that help create a greater sense of belonging and purpose for the volunteer. With a growing number of retiring professionals and students looking for professional experiences, now is the time to embark on developing a volunteer program that will thrive in the years to come.

Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums and Other Nonprofit Organizations

Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums and Other Nonprofit Organizations
Author: Kristy Van Hoven
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2024-09-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1538187655

Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums is back with a highly anticipated second edition! A decade after the first edition's release, this updated handbook offers fresh insights into the world of museum volunteers and their vital contributions to the success of organizations, both big and small. In the past 10 years, the world has undergone significant changes, and museum volunteer programs have had to adapt and evolve to keep up. The second edition is the perfect tool for anyone looking to start, maintain, revamp, or restart their museum's volunteer program. The second edition offers new approaches to engaging community members in your organization and bringing diverse groups of volunteers into any department at your institution. Additionally, it provides practical advice on how to plan for and include volunteers in building a sustainable and exciting future for your museum. Whether you're a seasoned volunteer manager or new to the field, this book offers valuable insights and strategies to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of museum volunteer management. With Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums Second Edition, you'll be equipped to create a thriving volunteer program that benefits your museum and its visitors for years to come.

Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections

Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections
Author: Angela Kipp
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2024-12-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1538190656

This book is a practical guide for everyone who is confronted with a collection that hasn’t seen any preventive conservation or cataloging before. It helps gaining an overview, defining priorities, and organizing the work in a way it is safe for the objects and the people involved. It defines “logical exits”, goals to work towards where the collection is in a state the next steps can wait without risking the progress made. Later on, readers learn to define their own “logical exits” that fit their specific situation. Compared to other books about collections management it doesn’t focus on the details of collections care, but rather on the big picture of managing such a project. It assumes that at the beginning there is nothing but the reader and an unmanaged collection, so that part of the project is to source money, material, and people to help. The second edition has a new chapter on setting up collections management systems, the original text was reworked and in parts enhanced, there are additional success stories in the last chapter with references to them in the text, and the bibliography now contains some resources for natural history, indigenous, and archaeological collections.

Museum Collections Management

Museum Collections Management
Author: Freda Matassa
Publisher: Facet Publishing
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2011-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1856047016

This landmark publication is the first to draw together all aspects of museum collections management in one handbook. It is designed for anyone with responsibility for a cultural collection and covers everything a collections manager needs to know. It describes professional practice in managing cultural objects and works of art, whatever the size and nature of the collection. The book includes essential information on: Legal aspects of collections Ethical issues such as due diligence and immunity from seizure Up to date concerns such as sustainability, crossing borders and financial constraints Loans, acquisitions, inventory and movement. The book describes all collections management procedures in a simple step-by-step process and is clear and easy to use with all procedures based on international museum practice. Examples of real forms, policies and documents drawn from major museums are included throughout the text and act as guides for any transaction. Readership: Packed full of practical information, advice and good practice, this will be essential reading for all museum professionals, curators of private collections and museum studies students.

Collections Management as Critical Museum Practice

Collections Management as Critical Museum Practice
Author: Cara Krmpotich
Publisher: UCL Press
Total Pages: 550
Release: 2024-07-22
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1800087047

There is a common misconception that collections management in museums is a set of rote procedures or technical practices that follow universal standards of best practice. This volume recognises collections management as a political, critical and social project, involving considerable intellectual labour that often goes unacknowledged within institutions and in the fields of museum and heritage studies. Collections Management as Critical Museum Practice brings into focus the knowledges, value systems, ethics and workplace pragmatics that are foundational for this work. Rather than engaging solely with cultural modifications, such as Indigenous care practices, the book presents local knowledge of place and material which is relevant to how collections are managed and cared for worldwide. Through discussion of varied collection types, management activities and professional roles, contributors develop a contextualised reflexive practice for how core collections management standards are conceptualised, negotiated and enacted. Chapters span national museums in Brazil and Uganda to community-led heritage work in Malaysia and Canada; they explore complexities of numbering, digitisation and description alongside the realities of climate change, global pandemics and natural disasters. The book offers a new definition of collections management, travelling from what is done to care for collections, to what is done to care for collections and their users. Rather than ‘use’ being an end goal, it emerges as a starting point to rethink collections work.

The Curation and Care of Museum Collections

The Curation and Care of Museum Collections
Author: Bruce Campbell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2019-03-11
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0429958994

Museum curators enter the profession with a specialist subject qualification and yet at some point in their career, many curators find themselves in charge of a range of collections outside of their expert knowledge. Interpreting, curating and caring for mixed collections demands of curators a wide range of knowledge and understanding. The Curation and Care of Museum Collections is designed to give curators the fundamental information and confidence they need to manage and care for all of the collections within their responsibility, regardless of their previous training and experience. Comprising two sections – Museum Collections, and Collection Development and Care – the chapters cover archaeology, art, history, military and natural sciences collections, as well as heritage properties. Every chapter in the book is focused on one type of collection, but all chapters in the collection management section contain advice on topics such as organisational philosophy, documentation, legal issues and materials in order to provide a useful and comprehensive guide to managing collections. The collection care section is structured in the same way, considering the issues of storage; display; handling; moving; packing; housekeeping; health and safety; emergency preparedness; and pest, pollution, environmental, light and vibration management. The contributors to this book are experienced museum professionals, each with their own specialism and a deep understanding of what it means to work in the context of mixed collections. Providing a highly practical guide, The Curation and Care of Museum Collections is essential reading for curators working in all types of museums, galleries and heritage sites, and for students of museology courses around the world.

The Participatory Museum

The Participatory Museum
Author: Nina Simon
Publisher: Museum 2.0
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2010
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0615346502

Visitor participation is a hot topic in the contemporary world of museums, art galleries, science centers, libraries and cultural organizations. How can your institution do it and do it well? The Participatory Museum is a practical guide to working with community members and visitors to make cultural institutions more dynamic, relevant, essential places. Museum consultant and exhibit designer Nina Simon weaves together innovative design techniques and case studies to make a powerful case for participatory practice. "Nina Simon's new book is essential for museum directors interested in experimenting with audience participation on the one hand and cautious about upending the tradition museum model on the other. In concentrating on the practical, this book makes implementation possible in most museums. More importantly, in describing the philosophy and rationale behind participatory activity, it makes clear that action does not always require new technology or machinery. Museums need to change, are changing, and will change further in the future. This book is a helpful and thoughtful road map for speeding such transformation." -Elaine Heumann Gurian, international museum consultant and author of Civilizing the Museum "This book is an extraordinary resource. Nina has assembled the collective wisdom of the field, and has given it her own brilliant spin. She shows us all how to walk the talk. Her book will make you want to go right out and start experimenting with participatory projects." -Kathleen McLean, participatory museum designer and author of Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions "I predict that in the future this book will be a classic work of museology." --Elizabeth Merritt, founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums

Building an Emergency Plan

Building an Emergency Plan
Author:
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2000-02-03
Genre: Art
ISBN: 089236551X

Building an Emergency Plan provides a step-by-step guide that a cultural institution can follow to develop its own emergency preparedness and response strategy. This workbook is divided into three parts that address the three groups generally responsible for developing and implementing emergency procedures—institution directors, emergency preparedness managers, and departmental team leaders—and discuss the role each should play in devising and maintaining an effective emergency plan. Several chapters detail the practical aspects of communication, training, and forming teams to handle the safety of staff and visitors, collections, buildings, and records. Emergencies covered include natural events such as earthquakes or floods, as well as human-caused emergencies, such as fires that occur during renovation. Examples from the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, the Museo de Arte Popular Americano in Chile, the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, and the Seattle Art Museum show how cultural institutions have prepared for emergencies relevant to their sites, collections, and regions.

Management in Museums

Management in Museums
Author: Kevin Moore
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 316
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780485900088

Management in museums has become a key issue in the past decade, a reflection of the challenges that museums face in operating in a a rapidly changing environment. Research in this field has developed significantly and this volume brings together some major contributions. The authors are either academics in the management field or museum managers themselves, the latter reflecting either on museum practice in the general, or utilising organisational theory to analyse their personal experiences.