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The Future is Collaborative Part I: Give The People What They Want
About this week’s guest blogger: Günter Waibel is a Program Officer at OCLC Research with a long history of working at the intersection of libraries, archives and museums. He co-authored “Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration … -
Museum Design 2034: Perpetual Beta
I blogged last week about how futurists write stories of the future based on trends we can observe now. This helps people explore what their lives, and their organizations, might look like in these potential futures, which in turn helps … -
Thinking About Convergence Part 2: The Knowledge Commons
This is the second installment of David Curry’s two-part forecast of the convergence of libraries, archives and museums. One can certainly argue about whether the set of drivers I discussed in my last post is complete, or whether … -
Museum Design 2034: The Distributed Museum
Museum practitioners are pre-adapted to be futurists. Why? Because futurism is, basically, the process of telling compelling stories about things that haven’t happened yet. These stories help people explore what alternate futures … -
One Potential Future for Museums, Archives, Libraries
The IMLS wiki UpNext kicked off last week looking at changing roles of museums and libraries as they adapt to the changing needs of their communities. The latest discussion focuses on shifts in power–are museums evolving into … -
Save Museums, Save the World?
I’m cynic when it comes to slogans and tag lines. I basically agree with Ivan Levinson, who wrote that at best tag lines are “like a Japanese haiku – a highly concentrated form of expression that attempts to communicate an essence, a … -
Convergence? Explore the Future of Museums and Libraries
The Institute of Museum & Library Services has just announced the launch of UpNext, a wiki site where people can share thoughts about IMLS’s recently published Discussion Guide on the future of museums and libraries. Starting next … -
Report from the Future: The Cultural Museum 2.0
It’s a good thing about the future is unequally distributed (cf William Gibson)–that way your museum can learn from pioneer organizations that are adapting to trends that will affect you in five, ten or twenty years. Where do you … -
Playing with Shiny Objects: Tech Trends and Innovations
I’m sometimes reminded by readers of this blog that the future is not all about technology (despite the way futurism is depicted in the popular media.) But you have to admit, the tech realm offers bright shiny objects that stimulate our … -
Mapping the Future
The Institute for the Future and Business for Social Responsibility have released their Sustainability Outlook Map charting four potential stories of the future. The map explores ways of approaching challenges to the environmental, social …
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Latest Stories from AAM
Tracking Trust in Museums: 2026 Update
Category:
Alliance Blog
This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2025 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers, …
Mining the National Archives: New Exhibition Sparks Personalized Discovery with AI
Category:
Center for the Future of Museums Blog
CFM’s summer dive into artificial intelligence has included scenarios of potential …
From Fragmentation to Alignment: Project Management in Museums
Category:
On-Demand Programs
Project management in museums is often misunderstood as task tracking or administrative …