About
Blurb
This fourth edition of Museum Basics has been produced for use in the many museums worldwide that operate with few professional staff and limited resources. The fourth edition has been fully updated to reflect the many changes that have taken place in museums around the world over the last six years.
Drawing from a wide range of practical experience, the authors provide a basic guide to all aspects of museum work, from audience development and learning, through collections management and conservation, to museum management and forward planning. Museum Basics is organised on a modular basis, with over 100 units in eight sections. It can be used both as a reference work to assist day-to-day museum management, and as the key textbook in pre-service and in-service museum training programmes, where it can be supplemented by case studies, project work and group discussion. This edition includes over 100 diagrams to support the text, as well as a glossary, sources of information and support and a select bibliography. Museum Basics is also supported by its own companion website, which provides a wide range of additional resources for readers.
Museum Basics aims to help the museum practitioner keep up to date with new thinking about the function of museums and their relationships with the communities they serve. The training materials provided within the book are also suitable for pre-service and in-service students who wish to gain a full understanding of work in a museum.
Contents
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List of figures
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List of boxes
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Acknowledgements
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foreword
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Section 1 Introductory
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Unit 1About This Book
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Unit 2About Museums
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Unit 3Types Of Museums
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Unit 4Making The Case For Museums
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Unit 5Museums And Sustainability
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Unit 6Museums And Social Responsibility
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Unit 7Museums And Theory
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Unit 8Museums And Ethics
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Section 2 The Museum And Its Users
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Unit 9Museums And Their Location
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Unit 10Museums Are For People
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Unit 11Access And Accessibility
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Unit 12Understanding Your Market
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Unit 13Marketing Your Museum
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Unit 14Developing New Audiences
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Unit 15Special Audiences: Museums And People With Disabilities And Special Needs
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Unit 16The Museum Visit
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Unit 17Learning In Museums
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Unit 18Learning: Inside The Museum
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Unit 19Learning: Beyond The Museum
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Unit 20Events And Activities: Creating Programmes
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Unit 21Facilities For Visitors
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Unit 22Providing Services: Shops And Sales Points
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Unit 23Providing Services: Food And Drink
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Unit 24Providing Facilities For Hire
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Unit 25Information Services
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Unit 26Publications
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Unit 27Museum Websites
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Unit 28Social Media And Museums
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Unit 29Public Relations And The Media
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Unit 30Working With Friends’ And Volunteer Groups
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Unit 31Researchers As Users
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Section 3 Presenting And Interpreting Collections
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Unit 32Introducing Interpretation
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Unit 33Presentation Techniques: Graphics
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Unit 34Presentation Techniques: Three-dimensional
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Unit 35Presentation Techniques: Audio-visual
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Unit 36Presentation Techniques: Interactives
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Unit 37Presentation Techniques: Using People
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Unit 38Museum Lighting
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Unit 39Museum Showcases
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Unit 40Planning New Displays And Exhibitions
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Unit 41Research For Displays And Exhibitions
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Unit 42Writing Text
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Unit 43Briefing A Designer
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Unit 44Display And Exhibition Design And Production
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Unit 45New Media
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Unit 46Evaluating Displays And Exhibitions
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Section 4 Collecting And Collections
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Unit 47Types Of Collections
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Unit 48Policies For Collecting
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Unit 49Policies For Disposal
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Unit 50Donations, Purchases And Loans
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Unit 51Collecting And Field Documentation
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Unit 52Object Research
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Unit 53Fieldwork And Record Centres
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Unit 54Photography, Film And Video
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Unit 55Audio-recording And Oral History
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Unit 56The Role Of Collections In Research
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Unit 57Ethical Considerations And Repatriation
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Unit 58Museum Archives And Museum History
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Section 5 Managing And Caring For Collections
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Unit 59Collections Management Plans
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Unit 60Collections Audits
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Unit 61Documentation Systems
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Unit 62Working With Conservators And Conservation Plans
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Unit 63Preventive Conservation: Principles
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Unit 64Environmental Monitoring And Control: Light
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Unit 65Environmental Monitoring And Control: Humidity And Temperature
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Unit 66Environmental Monitoring And Control: Air Pollution/pest And Insect Attack
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Unit 67Materials Testing
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Unit 68Collections Storage: Principles
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Unit 69Collections Storage: Practice
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Unit 70Handling, Packing And Moving Collections
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Unit 71Remedial Conservation: Principles
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Unit 72Remedial Conservation: Practice
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Unit 73Disaster Planning
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Unit 74Insurance
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Unit 75Collections Security: Physical And Electronic
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Unit 76Collections Security: Systems And Procedures
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Unit 77Copyright
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Section 6 The Museum And Its Buildings
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Unit 78Museum Buildings: Form And Function
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Unit 79Museums And Their Physical Setting
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Unit 80Museum Buildings: Planning For Access
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Unit 81Options Analysis And Feasibility Assessment
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Unit 82Working With Architects
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Unit 83Museum Buildings: Physical Security
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Unit 84Museum Buildings: Management And Maintenance
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Unit 85Museum Buildings: Sustainability
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Unit 86Moving The Museum
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Unit 87Orientation And Signage
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Unit 88Atmosphere, Pace And Flow
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Section 7 The Museum And Its Management
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Unit 89Legal Status, Governance And Management Structures
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Unit 90Partnerships
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Unit 91Networking
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Unit 92Policy Development And Management Planning
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Unit 93Developing A Forward Plan
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Unit 94Measuring Performance In Museums
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Unit 95Evaluating The Museum’s Success
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Unit 96Project Management
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Unit 97Financial Management
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Unit 98New Sources Of Income
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Unit 99Fund-raising
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Unit 100Management Of Change
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Unit 101Internal Communications
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Unit 102Staff Structures
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Unit 103Volunteers In Museums
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Unit 104Recruiting Museum Staff
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Unit 105Conditions Of Service
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Unit 106Performance Standards For The Individual
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Unit 107Job Appraisal And Assessing Performance
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Unit 108Staff Training And Professional Development
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Unit 109Using Consultants And Outsourcing
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Unit 110Health And Safety
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Unit 111Administrative Procedures
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Unit 112Information Technology And The Museum
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Section 8 Supporting Resources
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Unit 113Sources Of Information And Support
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Unit 114Resources For Museums On The Internet
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Glossary
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Select bibliography
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Index
Foreword
Museums have come a long way from being temples to forming institutions that play an active role in society and create meaning. And this transformation is ongoing. Change is a constant in museums as it is in the world. This being so, Museum Basics has remained a staple: a pertinent handbook since it was first published in 1993. It has served museum professionals in institutions of varying size and in countries of diverse demographics. As a Museum Studies lecturer, I can testify that it has informed many students and museum-related courses.
ICOM envisaged this publication as a training manual and it has fulfilled this objective, in keeping with our organisation’s continual quest for capacity-building and promotion of professional standards. The authors, who display a perfect command of the subject, have updated this edition with insight into recent developments in museum practice, introducing new topics and maintaining old, but relevant, ones, thus proving the relevance of this book across cultures and time.
I welcome the fourth edition of Museum Basics with great enthusiasm, just as I did the previous editions for their always fresh approach to defining professionalism and assisting museums in their day-to-day management. This edition provides a toolbox with which to tackle the challenges of our times be they financial hardship, implementation of new technologies or disaster risk management.
Museum Basics has been an inspiring example of ICOM’s commitment to serving the museum community. We continue to support the revision and translation of this handbook in accordance with our entrenched priority to support professional development within the museums community.
Suay Aksoy
President, International Council of Museums (ICOM)