National Visitation Survey for History Organizations
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is currently accepting responses to their annual “National Visitation Survey for History Organizations,” the only national effort to monitor and report on in-person visitation trends at history museums, historic sites, and other history organizations. This survey will help the field assess the impact extended closures from Covid-19, climate change, social unrest, and more had on our institutions last year. In addition to asking about changes to in-person visitation from 2019 to 2020, the survey includes a special section about the impact of the pandemic on operations, capacity restrictions, and staffing.
Your response is absolutely critical to this effort. With information about budget, staffing, and visitation on-hand, the survey should only take about ten minutes. Your contribution to this survey will help the entire field better understand the impact 2020 had on the history community and help AASLH provide better resources and support for the road ahead. Please complete the survey and encourage colleagues at other institutions to do the same.
The survey closes on March 31.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Visitation2021B
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CALL FOR STORIES:
Do you have a story to tell?
Wanted: senior African American museum professionals with leadership experience in major mainstream museums willing to share their stories about systemic racism for research project. Call Kimberly Camp at (856) 858-0527 or email: Kcamp@Kimberlycamp.com
Deadline: March 31, 2021
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INDEPENDENT MUSEUM PROFESSIONALS NETWORK:
The Independent Museum Professionals (IMP), an AAM network representing more than 1,000 museum consultants and contractors, is seeking applications and self-nominations for the IMP Steering Committee. IMP provides a central hub of resources, knowledge, and connections. It actively works to support independent museum professionals, to strengthen the relationship between independent museum professionals and museums, and to advance the museum field.
Steering Committee members serve for three-year terms. Duties include attendance at monthly meetings (online), taking leadership of an IMP initiative or program, and promoting the aims of IMP and the interests of independent museum professionals. The time commitment is typically 6-10 hours a month.
IMP is committed to nurturing greater inclusivity and strives to have its Steering Committee be representative and reflective of the diverse professionals and museums we serve. If you are interested in applying for a Steering Committee seat or in learning more, please contact Lisa Hanover at LHanover427@hotmail.com All applications and inquiries will be treated as confidential.
Applications and nominations will be reviewed by the IMP Nominating Committee; applicants will be interviewed and ranked, and a slate of nominees recommended to the IMP Steering Committee. All applications will be acknowledged and all applicants will be notified of the outcome at the conclusion of the nominating process.
Deadline: March 12, 2021
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ICOM-US Participation in the new ICOM Define Methodology (2020-2022)
Dear Colleagues,
We are asking for your help once again, as a follow up to our museum definition survey which you may have completed in April 2020. Announced in December 2020, ICOM’s standing committee on the museum definition launched its new methodology for a transparent process moving forward to arrive at the next ICOM General Conference in Prague in August 2022.
Please help us by completing the below survey by 11:59 pm EST Friday, March 12, 2021.
In this survey, we will ask you to dig a little deeper and help by telling us what you think are key words and concepts that should be in a new ICOM definition of museum. We ask you to identify these key words or concepts and provide a brief description of each.
To clarify any doubts on what a key word/concept is, we invite committees and members to look over the prior definitions proposed and adopted by ICOM to guide you through the process of conceiving your own key words/concepts. Here are a few examples randomly chosen within the currently adopted definition (2007):
•”Open to the public” (key word/concept): “Museums are public spaces that should be accessible to different audiences and sectors of society. The word ‘public’ refers to the museum users but also to the whole population addressed by it” (description).
•”Conserves” (key word/concept): “Addresses both the action and the intention to protect cultural property, whether material or immaterial” (description).
•”Tangible and intangible heritage” (key word/concept): “Refers to all natural or man-made goods and values, whether material or immaterial, without restriction of time or space, whether they be simply inherited from the forbears of earlier generations or gathered and preserved to be transmitted to the descendants of future generations.” (description).
Take the survey here: https://www.icomus.org/icom-define-methodology
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AAAM In Memoriam: