Hi,
How exciting to be working on a new museums project! I wish you success.
I have a couple of thoughts to suggest. First, you may be familiar with what AAM calls its "Continuum of Excellence" - they view striving for and achieving the highest standards as a spectrum, and accreditation is a point pretty far along on the spectrum. Many museums might wish to go through the accreditation process, but may not be ready for a variety of reasons, and a young or new museum would likely be at a different place on the spectrum. AAM does a great job of mapping out the professional best standards and practices that all museums should want to achieve. It's a great check list for creating a new museum, to see which areas you've achieved and which ones still need some work. And the AAM library of sample documents are available to museums trying to increase their professionalism, so they can see what others have done and adapt it to meet their own needs.
A next step further along on the continuum is to go through a Museum Assessment Program Review in some area where the Museum needs help, or maybe in an area where you've been telling them something, but you think the support of an outsider saying the same thing would help convince them to listen to you. This would also move you forward on the continuum toward accreditation, and might also help non-museum professional board members understand the value of the process.
When you think you have all of your ducks in a row and are ready to apply for accreditation, you will already have gone a long way toward achieving best standards and practices! Only about 1% of museums in this country reach AAM accreditation, and doing so puts you in an elite group with some of the country's top institutions. As a young institution this would also signify that you have moved from being an upstart that is playing catch-up with older institutions, to being a leader in your field and community. Also, as a collections guy from an accredited institution, I will always look at a museum that wishes to borrow objects from our collection to see if they are accredited - knowing that they've gone through that rigorous vetting process makes me confident that their staff and policies and facilities follow best practices, so I don't have to reinvent the wheel determining that for myself. So it gives that accredited institution access to loans that they might otherwise not have. As a grant reviewer and panelist, if I'm unfamiliar with a museum by reputation, I will also look to see if they are accredited, because it tells me that they will be good stewards of a grant if awarded. And finally, as a seasoned museum employee, if I was looking at a job listing at a museum, I would check to see if they were accredited before applying - I'd want to be sure that my understanding of professionalism and ethics would be valued by my prospective employer. For the accredited museum, it means that the best candidates and talent will apply, rather than passing over a listing.
I hope somewhere in here are some tidbits that will prove useful for you. Good luck!
Chris Carron
Director of Collections
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
chrisc@childrensmuseum.org------------------------------
Christian Carron
Director of Collections
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Indianapolis IN
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-27-2020 09:12 AM
From: Kristy Griffin
Subject: Assistance helping new museum understand accreditation value
I have had to have that conversation before. I tried to relate it to other profession's standards: would you hire a general contractor that wasn't licensed? or go to a doctor who never completed their medical degree? Of course not!
Well, savvy donors may not wish to gift money or art/artifacts to a museum that does not meet its professional standards, another museum may not want to loan items from their collection, and a granting organization may look more favorably on requests from an accredited museum.
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Kristy Griffin
Museum Registrar
Wyoming State Museum
Cheyenne WY
Original Message:
Sent: 03-25-2020 01:02 PM
From: Maria Mortati
Subject: Assistance helping new museum understand accreditation value
Hi, I so hope everyone that gets this note is safe and healthy.
I'm working on a project creating a new museum. The client side is missing experience in this area, and does not have a lot of museum experience in general.
I'm working on helping them understand the utility of accreditation. I have the AAM info, of course!
I'm wondering if anyone has meta language or approaches they have used in the past to help?
Many thanks and stay well,
Maria
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Maria Mortati
Independent Exhbition Designer
San Francisco CA
mariamortati@gmail.com
(415) 235-8994 [cell]
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