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Preview of Houston: Exploring the Future of Natural History Museums
At the AAM meeting in Houston this May, artist Tracy Hicks will create an installation on the future of natural history museums and the influence of natural history museums on the future of the earth. One of the things I love about Tracy’s … -
Museums & Wikipedia: The Future of Collaboration and Accessibility
Lori Byrd Phillips is a museum studies graduate student at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the current Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. She recently received a full scholarship … -
Museums and Spontaneous Eruptions of Art: Yarnbombing
Over the past two weeks, we’ve had Maria Mortati share with us the foundation of the San Francisco Mobile Museum and Barbara Stauffer discussing the challenges of orchestrating a participatory design experience in an institution. To … -
Using Your Audience as Exhibit Designers
Last week, Barbara Stauffer shared with us the challenges of orchestrating a participatory design experience in an institution with well-established organizational procedures and hierarchies. For her, inviting the input of over 800 … -
Museums & the Spectrum of Control: Part I
This week’s guest post is by Barbara Stauffer, chief of temporary exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History. This is the first in a series of posts exploring how museums are adapting to people’s desire to contribute, share, … -
An Idea for New Income and New Engagement: give your collections to as many people as possible
Got your attention with that headline, didn’t I? Calm down, I’m not talking about deaccessioning. I’m talking replication and teleportation of collections objects. Everyone has their own fav future tech. Phil’s is jetpacks: Mine is … -
Mining MyCulture: serving the community of creative consumers
The CFM report Museums & Society 2034 explored a trend we dubbed “MyCulture”—a rising generation demonstrating an extraordinarily high level of creative output and creative consumption. This week’s guest blogger, Allison Thurman, … -
The Backstory on Blobby
CFM’s recent post on natural history specimens as social media was wildly popular, attracting over 1,300 hits within one week. Given the evident fan base for Blobby (and Sue) it seems worth delving deeper into the story behind these … -
Natural History Specimens as Social Media Celebrities
The rise of social media is transforming the landscape of communication for all organizations, including museums. There are myriad new ways to connect directly with the public, and new spokespeople have stepped forth to fill these niches. … -
The Whole World a Museum?
Take a look at “Tales of Things,” an interesting website that launched this month. It’s part of the TOTeM project—“exploring social memory in the emerging Internet of Things.” This UK-based project …
Tag: Collections
Upcoming Events
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NAGPRA Essentials for History Organizations
Event Date:Presented by: American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) -
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Making Conferences Count: Before, During, and After
Event Date:Presented by: Ohio Museums Association
Latest Stories from AAM
Talking to the Press: How to Excel as a Museum Spokesperson
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Alliance Blog
A museum can spend years earning trust only to lose it in a single tense interview. If a …
American Alliance of Museums Partners with .ART Registry to Strengthen Digital Identity and Support the Museum Field
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Press Release
For Immediate Release ARLINGTON, VA & WASHINGTON, DC – The American Alliance of …
February Advocacy Alert: Funding Bills Pass, Administration Appeals IMLS Ruling, and more
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Advocacy Alert
Advocacy Alert – February 13, 2026 In this Alliance Advocacy Alert: IMLS, NEA, NEH …