ABSTRACT
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 for 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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section 1|25 pages
Introductory
unit 21|4 pages
About this book
unit 2|2 pages
About museums
unit 3|4 pages
Types of museums
unit 4|6 pages
Making the case for museums
unit 5|2 pages
Museums and sustainability
unit 6|2 pages
Museums and social responsibility
unit 7|1 pages
Museums and theory
unit 8|3 pages
Museums and ethics
section 2|104 pages
The Museum and its Users
unit 9|2 pages
Museums and their location
unit 10|3 pages
Museums are for people
unit 11|4 pages
Access and accessibility
unit 12|10 pages
Understanding your market
unit 13|8 pages
Marketing your museum
unit 14|3 pages
Developing new audiences
unit 15|4 pages
Special audiences: museums and people with disabilities and special needs
unit 16|4 pages
The museum visit
unit 17|3 pages
Learning in museums
unit 18|5 pages
Learning: inside the museum
unit 19|4 pages
Learning: beyond the museum
unit 20|10 pages
Events and activities: creating programmes
unit 21|3 pages
Facilities for visitors
unit 22|4 pages
Providing services: shops and sales points
unit 23|3 pages
Providing services: food and drink
unit 24|3 pages
Providing facilities for hire
unit 25|7 pages
Information services
unit 26|4 pages
Publications
unit 27|3 pages
Museum websites
unit 28|3 pages
Social media and museums
unit 29|5 pages
Public relations and the media
unit 30|4 pages
Working with Friends’ and volunteer groups
unit 31|3 pages
Researchers as users
section 3|59 pages
Presenting and Interpreting Collections
unit 32|4 pages
Introducing interpretation
unit 33|2 pages
Presentation techniques: graphics
unit 34|3 pages
Presentation techniques: three-dimensional
unit 35|4 pages
Presentation techniques: audio-visual
unit 36|2 pages
Presentation techniques: interactives
unit 37|2 pages
Presentation techniques: using people
unit 38|3 pages
Museum lighting
unit 39|3 pages
Museum showcases
unit 40|6 pages
Planning new displays and exhibitions
unit 41|2 pages
Research for displays and exhibitions
unit 42|6 pages
Writing text
unit 43|7 pages
Briefing a designer
unit 44|5 pages
Display and exhibition design and production
unit 45|2 pages
New media
unit 46|5 pages
Evaluating displays and exhibitions
section 4|41 pages
Collecting and Collections
unit 47|3 pages
Types of collections
unit 48|3 pages
Policies for collecting
unit 49|3 pages
Policies for disposal
unit 50|5 pages
Donations, purchases and loans
unit 51|3 pages
Collecting and field documentation
unit 52|3 pages
Object research
unit 53|3 pages
Fieldwork and record centres
unit 54|4 pages
Photography, film and video
unit 55|6 pages
Audio-recording and oral history
unit 56|2 pages
The role of collections in research
unit 57|1 pages
Ethical considerations and repatriation
unit 58|3 pages
Museum archives and museum history
section 5|80 pages
Managing and Caring for Collections
unit 59|2 pages
Collections Management Plans
unit 60|4 pages
Collections audits
unit 61|7 pages
Documentation systems
unit 62|6 pages
Working with conservators and conservation plans
unit 63|4 pages
Preventive conservation: principles
unit 64|4 pages
Environmental monitoring and control: light
unit 65|4 pages
Environmental monitoring and control: humidity and temperature
unit 66|4 pages
Environmental monitoring and control: air pollution/pest and insect attack
unit 67|3 pages
Materials testing
unit 68|5 pages
Collections storage: principles
unit 69|7 pages
Collections storage: practice
unit 70|4 pages
Handling, packing and moving collections
unit 71|2 pages
Remedial conservation: principles
unit 72|2 pages
Remedial conservation: practice
unit 73|5 pages
Disaster planning
unit 74|4 pages
Insurance
unit 75|4 pages
Collections security: physical and electronic
unit 76|3 pages
Collections security: systems and procedures
unit 77|3 pages
Copyright
section 6|54 pages
The Museum and its Buildings
unit 78|5 pages
Museum buildings: form and function
unit 79|3 pages
Museums and their physical setting
unit 80|5 pages
Museum buildings: planning for access
unit 81|7 pages
Options analysis and feasibility assessment
unit 82|6 pages
Working with architects
unit 83|3 pages
Museum buildings: physical security
unit 84|4 pages
Museum buildings: management and maintenance
unit 85|6 pages
Museum buildings: sustainability
unit 86|4 pages
Moving the museum
unit 87|4 pages
Orientation and signage
unit 88|4 pages
Atmosphere, pace and flow
section 7|107 pages
The Museum and its Management
unit 89|3 pages
Legal status, governance and management structures
unit 90|4 pages
Partnerships
unit 91|3 pages
Networking
unit 92|4 pages
Policy development and management planning
unit 93|9 pages
Developing a forward plan
unit 94|5 pages
Measuring performance in museums
unit 95|2 pages
Evaluating the museum’s success
unit 96|5 pages
Project management
unit 97|9 pages
Financial management
unit 98|7 pages
New sources of income
unit 99|6 pages
Fund-raising
unit 100|3 pages
Management of change
unit 101|5 pages
Internal communications
unit 102|1 pages
Staff structures
unit 103|4 pages
Volunteers in museums
unit 104|4 pages
Recruiting museum staff
unit 105|3 pages
Conditions of service
unit 106|3 pages
Performance standards for the individual
unit 107|2 pages
Job appraisal and assessing performance
unit 108|3 pages
Staff training and professional development
unit 109|6 pages
Using consultants and outsourcing
unit 110|5 pages
Health and safety
unit 111|3 pages
Administrative procedures
unit 112|5 pages
Information technology and the museum
section 8|9 pages
Supporting Resources
unit 113|4 pages
Sources of information and support
unit 114|4 pages
Resources for museums on the Internet