Museums 101

by Mark Walhimer

Overview

Looking for a concise introductory book on museums? Wish you were able to have one of the world's leading museum consultants spend a couple of days with you, talking you through how to start a museum, how museums work, how to set up an exhibit, and more? If so, Museums 101 is what you need.

In one short volume, Mark Walhimer covers:
- Essential Background, such as what a museum is, a quick history of museums, and 10 steps to starting a museum
- Operational Basics, such as branding, marketing, strategic planning, governance, accessibility, and day-to-day operations
- What goes on behind the scenes in a museum, ranging from finances to fundraising to art handling, exhibit management, and research
- The Visitor Experience, planning a museum, designing exhibits for visitors, programming, and exhibit evaluation
- Features that even the most experienced museum professionals will find useful include a community outreach checklist, a fundraising checklist, a questionnaire for people considering starting a new museum, and an exhaustive, well-organized list of online resources for museum operations
- Valuable appendices include a museum toolbox full of useful forms, checklists, worksheets, and a glossary of essential museum-related terms

Museums 101 also features a companion website exclusively for readers of the book. The website- museums101.com-features: links to essential online resources in the museum world,
downloadable sample documents, a glossary, a bibliography of sources for further reading, and photographs of more than 75 museums of all types.

The second edition has been revised and expanded to include information for a post-COVID-19 museum world. There is a whole new chapter devoted to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) and the future of museums, as well as updated resources, diagrams, and information on technology for museums.

Discussion questions and learning activities in each chapter ensure the book is ready for the current educational environment.

The second edition of Museums 101 is an ideal textbook for professors who are seeking to guide students through the new museum landscape as well as an essential read for anyone looking for an overview of the field today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442230170
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/28/2015
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Mark Walhimer is a managing partner of the museum consultancy Museum Planning, LLC, and an industrial design professor.

He is the founder of Museum Courses, an online platform for museum courses, and has taught at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, and at Tecnológico de Monterrey and Universidad Iberoamericana, both in Mexico City.

Prior to starting his company, Walhimer held positions at Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California; the Children's Museum of Indianapolis; the Tech Museum in San Jose, California; and Liberty Science Center. He has also been Chief Operating Officer of a museum exhibition design and fabrication firm. He is the author of Museums 101 and Designing Museum Experiences.

Walhimer has been a three-time juror for the United States Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, an American Alliance of Museums Museum Assessment Program peer reviewer, and an Institute of Museum and Library Services peer reviewer. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Specialist grant.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Foreword
PART I: ESSENTIAL MUSEUM BACKGROUND
1 Defining a Museum
2 A Quick History of Museums
3 Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion
PART II: CREATING AN INTEGRATED MUSEUM
4 The Integrated Museum
5 Starting a Museum
6 Museum Governance
7 Museum Feasibility Studies
8 Museum Planning Strategies
PART III: EXHIBITIONS
9 Collections
10 The Museum Building
11 Museum Exhibition Development/Curation
12 Exhibition Design and Fabrication
13 Museum Programming: Education
PART IV: BEHIND THE SCENES
14 Museum Finances
15 Museum Fundraising
16 Museum Marketing
17 Museum Project Management
18 Museum Evaluation
19 Museum Operations
20 Museum Accessibility
21 Museum Research
22 Collections Care
23 The Museum of the Future
24 Putting Your Museum Online
25 Working in Museums
PART V: THE MUSEUM TOOLBOX
American Alliance of Museums: Code of Ethics for Museums
Sample Bylaws
American Alliance of Museums: Developing a Mission Statement
Sample Museum Constitution
Sample Museum Feasibility Template
Sample Board Member Responsibilities
Sample Policy for Donations of Objects
Sample Donor Questionnaire
Sample Museum Exhibit Sponsorship Agreement
Timing and Tracking Study
Visitor Exit Interview
Museum Job Descriptions
Sample Museum Director Job Description
Object Cataloging Record
Museum Exhibition Design Process
Resources
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Walhimer, founder of Museum Planning LLC and host of the blog Museum Planner, has assembled a fine how-to guide for creating and organizing all varieties of museums. The author guides readers through the process, covering the initial vision, formation of a board of directors, the museum feasibility study, the building's design and layout, and successful exhibition planning. The work includes sections on fundraising, marketing, and programming but keeps its focus on the essentials: the museum's mission, its responsibility to visitors, and the ethics of proper stewardship of collections. Walhimer frequently illustrates the point he is making with one or two tangible examples of successfully applied techniques, as well as offering cautionary tales. The book's five sections are particularly logical and well organized. The ‘Museum Toolbox’ section provides a comprehensive collection of seminal resources, sample documents, and useful templates. Each chapter includes a list of references, mostly of resources available online. An accompanying website with updated information and a blog is also available to readers wanting more. Rather than a reference work per se, this book is more suitable for circulating collections, and it will appeal for museum-studies students and anyone considering a career in the field. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates; general readers; professionals/practitioners.

Choice Reviews

As its title implies, this is an introduction to the world of museums, with 24 chapters divided into four sections: Museum Background, Creating an Integrated Museum, Exhibitions, and Behind the Scenes. Also included is a ‘Museum Toolkit’ which provides sample documents of use to museum personnel. The author outlines his hoped-for readership: ‘museum founders, new museum staff and volunteers, those wishing to work in museums, new board members, students, and those wishing to contract services with a museum.’ From finances and marketing, to creating an online presence and project management, this volume presents the key elements of museum operation. An additional feature of this volume is access to a companion website with additional resources on the subject. Libraries serving any of the readers listed by the author, or readers simply interested in how museums ‘work,’ will want to have this volume. Its clear language and excellent organization will make it accessible to all levels of their patrons.

American Reference Books Annual

The great value of Museums 101 is that it outlines the basics of exhibition development, collections care, evaluation, and more, in a way that acknowledges that museum work requires specialized expertise. Don’t try to re-invent the museum, it tells the collector deciding to build a museum from scratch, or the businessman suddenly appointed to the board. There are things you need to know. Museums have figured out a lot. Read this book to get up to speed.

Curator: The Museum Journal

Walhimer, founder of Museum Planning LLC and host of the blog Museum Planner, has assembled a fine how-to guide for creating and organizing all varieties of museums. The author guides readers through the process, covering the initial vision, formation of a board of directors, the museum feasibility study, the building's design and layout, and successful exhibition planning. The work includes sections on fundraising, marketing, and programming but keeps its focus on the essentials: the museum's mission, its responsibility to visitors, and the ethics of proper stewardship of collections. Walhimer frequently illustrates the point he is making with one or two tangible examples of successfully applied techniques, as well as offering cautionary tales. The book's five sections are particularly logical and well organized. The ‘Museum Toolbox’ section provides a comprehensive collection of seminal resources, sample documents, and useful templates. Each chapter includes a list of references, mostly of resources available online. An accompanying website with updated information and a blog is also available to readers wanting more. Rather than a reference work per se, this book is more suitable for circulating collections, and it will appeal for museum-studies students and anyone considering a career in the field. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates; general readers; professionals/practitioners.

CHOICE

Walhimer, founder of Museum Planning LLC and host of the blog Museum Planner, has assembled a fine how-to guide for creating and organizing all varieties of museums. The author guides readers through the process, covering the initial vision, formation of a board of directors, the museum feasibility study, the building's design and layout, and successful exhibition planning. The work includes sections on fundraising, marketing, and programming but keeps its focus on the essentials: the museum's mission, its responsibility to visitors, and the ethics of proper stewardship of collections. Walhimer frequently illustrates the point he is making with one or two tangible examples of successfully applied techniques, as well as offering cautionary tales. The book's five sections are particularly logical and well organized. The ‘Museum Toolbox’ section provides a comprehensive collection of seminal resources, sample documents, and useful templates. Each chapter includes a list of references, mostly of resources available online. An accompanying website with updated information and a blog is also available to readers wanting more. Rather than a reference work per se, this book is more suitable for circulating collections, and it will appeal for museum-studies students and anyone considering a career in the field. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates; general readers; professionals/practitioners.

Choice

Walhimer, founder of Museum Planning LLC and host of the blog Museum Planner, has assembled a fine how-to guide for creating and organizing all varieties of museums. The author guides readers through the process, covering the initial vision, formation of a board of directors, the museum feasibility study, the building's design and layout, and successful exhibition planning. The work includes sections on fundraising, marketing, and programming but keeps its focus on the essentials: the museum's mission, its responsibility to visitors, and the ethics of proper stewardship of collections. Walhimer frequently illustrates the point he is making with one or two tangible examples of successfully applied techniques, as well as offering cautionary tales. The book's five sections are particularly logical and well organized. The ‘Museum Toolbox’ section provides a comprehensive collection of seminal resources, sample documents, and useful templates. Each chapter includes a list of references, mostly of resources available online. An accompanying website with updated information and a blog is also available to readers wanting more. Rather than a reference work per se, this book is more suitable for circulating collections, and it will appeal for museum-studies students and anyone considering a career in the field. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates; general readers; professionals/practitioners.” —Choice Reviews

“The great value of Museums 101 is that it outlines the basics of exhibition development, collections care, evaluation, and more, in a way that acknowledges that museum work requires specialized expertise. Don’t try to re-invent the museum, it tells the collector deciding to build a museum from scratch, or the businessman suddenly appointed to the board. There are things you need to know. Museums have figured out a lot. Read this book to get up to speed.” —Curator: The Museum Journal

“As its title implies, this is an introduction to the world of museums, with 24 chapters divided into four sections: Museum Background, Creating an Integrated Museum, Exhibitions, and Behind the Scenes. Also included is a ‘Museum Toolkit’ which provides sample documents of use to museum personnel. The author outlines his hoped-for readership: ‘museum founders, new museum staff and volunteers, those wishing to work in museums, new board members, students, and those wishing to contract services with a museum.’ From finances and marketing, to creating an online presence and project management, this volume presents the key elements of museum operation. An additional feature of this volume is access to a companion website with additional resources on the subject. Libraries serving any of the readers listed by the author, or readers simply interested in how museums ‘work,’ will want to have this volume. Its clear language and excellent organization will make it accessible to all levels of their patrons.” —American Reference Books Annual

“Museums 101 is a straight forward ‘how-to’ book for people new to the field of museums and for those interested in entering professions in the museum field. A perfect book to hand to a new volunteer, new staff or board member and say ‘here are the basics.” —Van A. Romans, president, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and member of the Board of Trustees, American Alliance of Museums

“Museums 101 is very interesting and useful for those managing museums or interested in organizing one.” —Sergey Solovyev, Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, The State Hermitage Museum, Russia

“Museums 101 is an amazing and comprehensive resource, full of great insights of how museums work.” —Alison Spence, Exhibitions and Loans Registrar, National Museum of Australia

From the Publisher

Museums 101 is a straight forward ‘how-to’ book for people new to the field of museums and for those interested in entering professions in the museum field. A perfect book to hand to a new volunteer, new staff or board member and say ‘here are the basics.

Van A. Romans

Museums 101 is an amazing and comprehensive resource, full of great insights of how museums work.

Alison Spence

Museums 101 is very interesting and useful for those managing museums or interested in organizing one.

Sergey Solovyev