A photo showing three people seated at a table, working with original collections. All have gloves on and are writing notes or looking at the objects.

Collections Stewardship

The Collections Stewardship Professional Network is a community of practice focused on the stewardship of collections, archives, and exhibitions, including direct care, handling, documentation, shipping, housing, information management, and all activities related to collections of various types and sizes.

Vision

Empowering collections professionals to thrive and advancing standards across the museum community.

Mission

The Collections Stewardship Professional Network of AAM advocates for the diverse body of professionals dedicated to the stewardship of collections, and strengthens our members’ knowledge base through educating and disseminating best practices, networking, and connecting people to resources.

Values

  • Advocacy: representing the needs of collections professionals
  • Connection: uniting colleagues from around the country and beyond
  • Mentoring: preparing future collections professionals
  • Education: sharing information, standards, and experiences
  • Collaboration: Fostering a sense of mutual cooperation

Resources

The Collections Stewardship listserv is a place to ask for feedback on a range of collections care topics, hear about job openings, and learn about professional development opportunities. Learn more and join the listserv here.

Read more about our Professional Network here.

AAM Member-Only Content

AAM Members get exclusive access to premium digital content including:

  • Featured articles from Museum Magazine
  • Access to more than 1,500 resource listings from the Resource Center
  • Tools, reports, and templates for equipping your work in museums
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Museum Aims To Be A Model For Making Collections Available Via 3D Printing

By Ann Thompson, Wvxu
The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis was one of the first museums to offer free 3D printing of its art collection, all in an effort to make it more accessible to the …

Future Proofing Museum Business Plans: Creating sustainable models for natural history research collections.

By Elizabeth Merritt
Logo of Center of the Future of Museum's Space Slug
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2017 issue of Museum magazine. Last December, I co-taught a workshop in the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History’s newly renovated …

Direct Care of Collections: Ethics, Guidelines, and Recommendations

By American Alliance of Museums
AAM Logo on dark green background
This article originally appeared in the July-August 2016 issue of Museum magazine. First issued in 2016, the white paper was updated in 2019 to reflect the updated FASB accounting standard …

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Collection Ranking: Making deaccessions work for you

By Caitlin Podas
Headshot of Caitlin Podas
Category: Collections Stewardship
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 …

Doing More with More: Investing in earned income

By Elizabeth Merritt
Logo of Center of the Future of Museum's Space Slug
Category: Center for the Future Of Museums Blog
As the saying goes, “it takes money to make money.” Often museums feel they can’t risk their slim financial margin on speculative ventures, but not taking such risks comes with a cost as …

Preparing Your Time Portal Session Proposal for AAM2020

By Elizabeth Merritt
Logo of Center of the Future of Museum's Space Slug
Category: Center for the Future Of Museums Blog
The high point of my year may well be reading the session proposals you all submit for the Time Portal track at the AAM 2020 conference! These sessions will take place in some specific …

Futurist Friday: Fractional Art

By Elizabeth Merritt
Logo of Center of the Future of Museum's Space Slug
Category: Center for the Future Of Museums Blog
Here’s William Gibson, writing in 1986, offering an off-hand glimpse of art collecting in the year 2042: “He led her across the room and through a doorway. A graying, heavyset Frenchman in …

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