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How Museum Stores Support Their Institutions and the Public

By Stuart Hata

Throughout my thirty years as a museum retail professional, I have often had to explain to others—whether colleagues, friends and family, or complete strangers—how museum stores support their institutions and the public at large. From my …
You’re Doing What?!: Becoming “The Founder”

By Elizabeth Williams

Museum professionals have creative aging journeys of their own, which might mean figuring out how best to cap off a career in the field. But in today’s world, with more people enjoying active and engaged lifestyles later into life, …
Is History Haunted?: Three museums explain their supernatural programs

By Andrea Malcomb, Mark Nardone, and Kristen Sheldon

Around October, the weather gets cold, the days get shorter, and the spine begins to tingle. People start looking for eerie activities to scratch the itch, whether haunted houses, horror movies, or ghost tours. This is an interesting …
Using Your RFP Process to Reduce Third-Party Risk

By Tom Rogers

Creating a well-written request for proposals (“RFP”) takes a lot of time and effort. As tempting as it can be to rush through the RFP writing process, you need to do it carefully to prevent problems down the line. A good RFP (and …
Creative Aging and Social Prescribing

By Bill Tramposch

“You’re doing what?!” This is often the response one gets when they say they are involved in the field of creative aging. I am asked it a lot, from people who want to know what on earth “creative aging” even is. When I begin to describe it …
Collection Ranking: Making deaccessions work for you

By Caitlin Podas

For all the objects in a museum’s collection that meet the standard criteria for accessioning—they fit the museum’s mission, are in good condition, and have thorough provenance—a significant percentage meet only one (or none) of these …
How Science Museum of Minnesota Put Its Collections and Research on the MAP

By Charlie Iverson

The timing was right for Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) to participate in the Collections Stewardship Museum Assessment Program (MAP) program in 2018. Since our last MAP, in 1985, we had experienced many changes. Most recently, our new …
An International Collaboration to Promote STEAM Experiences

By Susan Dorsey

As museum educators, we often teach children to appreciate art as a method of self-expression, but we can also use it to engage them with challenging educational subjects. Research suggests there is educational value in interdisciplinary …
Meet the Facing Change Senior Diversity Fellows

By Ibrahim Shafau

Only nine short months have passed since AAM began its initiative Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion, which provides training, support, and resources to help museum leadership become more representative of the …
Praise Be to AARP

By Bill Tramposch

One of the many benefits of advanced age is that one can become a member of AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons. But despite the name, the word “retired” seems to be losing its applicability, if one reads any of AARP’s …