Links
Potsdam, Germany (More)
MuseumBlogs.org
is a directory of museum and museum-related blogs as well as a space for re-postings. The purpose of the site is to raise awareness and increase the authority of blogs focusing on museum issues. Authority is used by search engines to filter results. The more links, the more authority and more visible a blog will become.
The site includes a publicly editable, moderated directory provides a central website for listings to museum and museum-related blogs.
Posts on the the site come from the RSS feeds of the blogs included in the directory.
Collections Australia Network (CAN)
The Collections Australia Network brings together Australian museums, libraries and archives. The site contains links to museums and information about museum and similar organizations in Australia. The CAN Coordination Unit operates from the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
CAN is the successor to AMOL, a project of the Heritage Collections Council which was supported jointly by the Australian Commonwealth Government through the Department of Communications, Information technology and the Arts and Museums Australia.
ICOM
The International Council of Museums, the principal international organization representing museum professionals around the world. Based in Paris, France there are National Committees in each country: the bulk of the business is conducted through various International Committees.
Global Museum
A website offering information about museums, a bookshop, related travel services, access to similar sites and other information
Museum Education Roundtable
An active communications network encouraging leadership, scholarship, and personal development among educators and museum professionals. The Roundtable publishes of the Journal of Museum Education which features some of the best short articles on museum education.
Museum Group
A North American not-for-profit group of independent museum professionals offering a wide variety of services to museums and cultural organizations. The Museum Group includes Elaine Heumann Gurian.
Education World
The Group for education in museums promotes the importance of learning through museums, galleries and other cultural organisations. Although based in the UK there are members around the world. Deals with education and contains a wealth of information. Amongst the links on that site is “The Constructivist Museum” by Emeritus Professor George E. Hein (Lesley College, Cambridge, Mass, USA) which presents an analysis of theories of knowledge and learning, and how this relates to the goals of museums. Hein is the author of “Learning in the Museum” (Routledge, London, 1998) and, with Mary Alexander of “Museums: Places of Learning” (American Association of Museums, Washington, DC, 1998).
Institute for Learning Innovation
Established in 1986, the Institute for Learning Innovation of Annapolis, Maryland, USA is a non-profit organization committed to understanding, facilitating, and communicating about free-choice learning. The President is Dr John Falk and Dr Lynne Dierking is Associate Director. Falk and Dierking are the authors of numerous publications on learning and museums including “Learning from Museums; Visitor Experiences and the Making of Meaning” (Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA, 2000). Falk, together with Dr Beverly Sheppard, formerly Chair of ILI and CEO of Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts and recently appointed Executive Director of ILI, are the authors of the book, “Thriving in the Knowledge Age. New Business Models for Museums and Other Cultural Institutions” (AltaMira Press, 2006) launched at the American Assocation of Museums Centennary Conference in Boston in April 2006. There is a review of the book in the December 2006 issue of Museum Management and Curatorship (vol 21/4).
Informal Learning Experiences, Inc.
Sierra Nevada, Spain (More)
Based in Washington DC 20015, Informal Learning Experiences provides a wide range of services to organizations and government agencies involved in informal education.
Mouseia
Describes itself as the online resource centre for museologist and museum professionals. “Mouseia, a “festival of the Muses,” is the culmination of years of scholarship by leading international museologists, now made accessible through the potential of the online environment. Shaped by the vision of Professor Lynne Teather of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Toronto, Mouseia brings together traditional bibliographies of museum literature, and integrates new, multimedia resources, including online journals and discussions of innovations in the field. The result is both a research centre and a forum for the exchange of ideas: Mouseia will provide opportunities for museum professionals, academics, and communities to interact, discuss and develop concepts around heritage and the roles of museums as stewards of expressions of human identity, memory and creativity.”
Explore Museums Online
Promotes itself thus: “this website can help you find museums on the internet .. as well a staggering variety of related links .. dozens of interesting online museum shops .. and even specialized content for museum professionals .. online since 1999, we now have a database of over 20,000 individual items .. quite the treasure trove of museum “stuff”. KIVU Nature Inc. (Knowledge, Imagery, Vision, and Understanding)Was established in 1997 to help bring a greater understanding and appreciation of the natural and cultural worlds. Kivu offers executive level consulting to leaders in sustainable project development, especially where important heritage natural and cultural resources are involved, executive level consulting to presidents, directors, and upper level management of museums. One of our major specialties is helping to bridge the gap between western culture and indigenous peoples when including traditional knowledge in decision-making. Also offered are a wide range of media services including scriptwriting, content, and imagery for media productions. Finally, and primarily as a service to not-for-profit organizations, there is help to develop Internet presence by through inexpensive website designs and construction.
Intercom: Leadership in Museums Are our core Values Shifting?
Dublin, Ireland, October 16 - 19, 2002: The site states, “Museums today face many pressures for change, not least the pressure to popularise themselves. Are these pressures forcing museums to change their core purposes and values? The INTERCOM conference looked at this critical area and in particular at the role that leadership and management have to play in balancing apparently conflicting demands. Key questions about the role of museum governors and indeed whether traditional scholarship and research can continue alongside new populist programmes and exhibitions were addressed by the principal speakers. “Within the overall theme, “Leadership in Museums: Are our Core Values Shifting?” there were three core sessions, addressing aspects of this topic;
- “Defining Museum Core Values in the 21st Century: Leadership in Action
- Competing Values: who decides, the role of governance
- Scholarship and Populism: can they co-exist?”
The website includes papers on leadership, governance, marketing and museum values by Ken Gorbey (former Project Director, Jewish Museum Berlin), Jane Ryder (Director, Scottish Museums Council, Edinburgh), Jette Sandahl (Director, National Museum of World Cultures, Gottenburg) and others.
Museum Trustee Association
MTA is the Network for Advising, Informing and Inspiring Museum Trustees. The site says, “The Museum Trustee Association (MTA) is the only organization dedicated to providing The Museum Trustee Association (MTA) is the only organization dedicated to providing ongoing board education programs, services and resources for the special needs of museum trustees. Museum trustees are elected to govern institutions voluntarily. There are nearly 75,000 museum trustees in the United States; they set policy, ensure funding and oversee the management of an institution, and in many cases are almost entirely untrained. The moral and legal obligations of museum trustees are complex and, in many respects, unique to the museum world.”
- setting policy
- making strategic plans and decisions
- allocating resources
- setting goals
- raising funds
- evaluating performance
The Summer 2003 issue of the MTA Newsletter features highlights from the 2002 Assembly dealing with governance, “Asking the Right Questions” including contributions from the late Stephen E Weil (Smithsonian Institution Scholar Emeritus), Adrian Ellis (AEA Consulting) and Brian Havel (DePaul University).
AEA Consulting
This is a New York consulting firm founded in 1990 with an office also in London. AEA’s magazine Platform contains very interesting articles including a recent set of papers relating to a major review of the arts in California which is considered to be relevant to arts organizations in many other countries.
The 24-hour Museum
This site promotes itself as an official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage and a “Gateway to over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions”.
National Museum Directors’ Conference
The National Museum Directors’ Conference represents the leaders of the UK’s national museums and galleries. These comprise the national museums and galleries in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the three national libraries, and the National Archives. The Values and Vision statement calls for a new settlement with government so that Britain can maintain its position as a world-class culture.
Membership comprises the Directors and Chief Executives of the UK’s national museums and galleries, as well as The National Archives, British Library and National Library of Scotland.
The site gives details about key areas of activity and current projects, recent NMDC publications and links to other useful resources, lists and profiles members and gives links to their contact details. Also included are reports on leadership, economic impact and so on.
There are also links to details of current vacancies at national museums, libraries and archives.
The site has a Monthly Newsletter.
artintelligence.co.uk
is the website of Tom Flynn Art Advisory Services. There are a large number of very interesting essays on a number of differnet issues facing museums including return of cultural property, the Churchill Museum at the War Cabinet Offices and so on. There is a blog which has been in abbeyance but is about to recommence. The website and blog both have lots of interesting commentary, most recently (April 2008) concerning the Parthenon sculptures and the UNESCO conference in Athens in March on the Return of Cultural Objects to their Countries of Origin. Tom has a post “Parthenon Marbles Case Overshadowed by Iraq Looting” on the museum security network about the Sculptures also.