Museum, Collections, Exhibit

Minnesota Discovery Center Curator Brief 2011

What are museums?

The American Association of

Museums (AAM) Code of Ethics for Museums notes that museums common denominator are making a "unique contribution to the public by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the things of this world.

Other Definitions

International Council of

U.S. Federal Government: A

Museums (ICOM): A nonprofit making, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment.

public or private nonprofit agency or institution organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes, which, utilizing a professional staff, owns or utilizes tangible objects, cares for them, and exhibits them to the public on a regular basis.

Museums
Anthropology Childrens Museums

Art History
Natural History Aquariums Arboreta Art Centers Botanical Gardens
Does the Minnesota Discovery Center fit here?

History
Historic Sites Nature Centers Planetariums Science and

Technology Centers Zoos

What do we do as a museum?
Follow institutional

ethics and standards Care for collections Exhibit Educate

How are we caring for Collections?

Standards and Excellence Program (StEPs)
AASLH

Walltowall inventory and

catalogue

Grant Funded Assigning object numbers Recording descriptions Entering data into PastPerfect

Transportation Open Storage

Long-term goal NEH Planning Grant

Why a Wall-to-Wall Inventory?

Future
Increase care of objects, in

perpetuity Assess priorities for preservation (ex. Salo Quilt) Accessibility for exhibition, research, staff and visitors Create a conservation plan (510 years) Allocate proper storage Increase successful grants for future projects American Association of Museums Accreditation
Meets high level of professional

standards
Salo Quilt at Minnesota Arts Conservation Center, 2009

Exhibition
Short-Term
Temporary exhibits Traveling Exhibits

Permanent Exhibit
20 plus years

Exhibit Challenges and Solutions

Permanent Exhibit Challenges
Not engaging our current visitors Not successfully communicating the message of the

exhibit
Exhibit Solutions
Engaging exhibits, interactive, hands-on Participatory Museum
Identify core audience (4-10 grade) Better interpretation that fit educational goals Meet needs of todays visitors, Web 2.0 Generation Master Plan: The Land, The People, The Mines,

and The Work

Links
Minnesota Discovery Center

Findings and Sightings: A blog from inside the

Minnesota Discovery Center Museum 2.0: explores ways that web 2.0 philosophies can be applied in museum design