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Sharing the Wealth: Museums as Equity Engines
Recently, I’ve been speaking of museums as banks—repositories of enormous wealth of reputation, knowledge, and influence, in addition to the sheer value of their endowments. I’ve advanced the thesis that by managing this wealth as a type … -
Collection Ranking: Making deaccessions work for you
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
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 … -
Collaborating with Emergency Responders to Protect Cultural Heritage
Protecting cultural heritage collections is crucial to preserving our nation’s history, sustaining the economy, and fostering resilience so that communities can respond to and recover from disasters of all shapes and sizes. Most cultural … -
Collections 2030 – What Future for Museum Collections in the UK?
One of the five pillars of the Alliance’s strategic plan is global thinking. We know that US museums can become stronger by learning from their colleagues around the world. Case in point: what can we learn about the future of collections … -
Digital Storytelling coming to a museum near you: 3 reasons to use Lume
Gretchen Halverson is the Media and Technology Assistant at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The reinstallation of the African galleries at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) in 2013 involved the drastic reduction in the number of … -
The Elephant in the Room
In the January 2018 special issue of Curator: The Museum Journal, several authors explore the issue of ivory and what it means to museums collections today. Here’s a review from the Editor John Fraser and the Guest Editors for the Special … -
Digital birds perch at Yale’s Peabody Museum
Mike Cummings is a communications officer at Yale University. He previously worked as a reporter for daily newspapers in Mississippi and Connecticut. This article was originally published on YaleNews, April 7, 2017. Republished with …
Tag: collections stewardship
Upcoming Events
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The Future of Giving & Grants: A Conversation with Ohio’s Community Foundations
Event Date:Presented by: Ohio Museums Association -
All You Need to Know to Drive Success for Your Museum Store Sunday!
Event Date:Presented by: Museum Store Association -
Advocacy 101: Getting to know the basics
Event Date:Presented by: American Alliance of Museums -
Digital Collections Summit 2025
Event Date:Presented by: MuseumNext
Latest Stories from AAM
Demographics of US Museum-Goers: 2025 Update
Category:
Alliance Blog
This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2025 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers, …
September Monthly Advocacy Alert: Federal Funding, IMLS, and Advocacy Webinar
Advocacy Alert – September 12, 2025 In this Alliance Advocacy Alert: Updates and …
Ask the Expert: Collections Insurance
Join Cecelia Walls, Assistant Director, Learning Content & …