I love words, love authors who can turn a phrase, tell a story, draw me in. Over the years i have read hundreds, maybe thousands of books. Still reading a lot, but now days some of it is online. Web sites with skilled writers, magazines that come filled with articles that peak my interest and even blogs where everyday people wade in and add their two cents (sadly, most of the responses are drivel). All of which is simply a setup. I am truly jacked about our latest project. I told you before, the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum is in the process of a revamping. Many of you have been there and enjoyed it's unique flavor. We have accumulated tons of materials that has been buried. Display space is limited. It wasn't an easy decision, and one we made with some reservations. Our living room featured the early years before Sun City. We were called the town of Marinette and the history as a farming/cotton community was prominently featured. When you went in the room behind the kitchen, we went to great lengths to include the Sun City West development. Sharing space has been challenging, because in many of our minds, the real story was the original Sun City. Once we got our head around the concept; Sun City AZ...The Community That Changed A Nation, we realized everything started with us. Not to diminish the rest of the story, but we are going to restructure and retell the Sun City story in a more prominent way. I've spent the last month pouring over 18 years of newspaper ads and marketing brochures. When i say "sheer brilliance," i am coming to understand just how good they were. Some of the stuff i am reading brought tears to my eyes. They were that damned powerful. It's time we put them front and center and not leave them buried away for no one to see. Once we work through those two formats, we will be moving on to the massive photo collection we have of clubs, organizations and the Sun Bowl. We can never display it all, but our hope is to create displays that allow us to rotate pieces in and out so they are always fresh and inviting. Come this fall, the museum will have a whole new look. We put in play a strategic five year plan, and this is the first leg of the journey. The bulk of it will be about showcasing Sun City and how this community in the middle of nowhere changed how seniors thought about their golden years. We truly are one of a kind and it's time we started promoting the remarkable impact Sun City made across the country and the world.
I don't believe we have scj. I bookmarked the site and will look more closely at it. Fairly lengthy accreditation period, but it might fit nicely with our long range plan.
I would strongly recommend the MAP (Museum Assessment Program) process as it provides the museum with tools for self-analysis and logical guidelines and helps with prioritization of museum goals. Having an outside assessor come in provides an objective outsider free from emotional baggage that board members and staff carry. Aiming towards accreditation often brings tried and true methodology so lots of time is saved in not having the reinvent the wheel. Community and members are also more prone to contribute to an org that has shown it is willing to undergo outside evaluation and adherence to standard. When I was a museum director, I initiated the process at our museum and was extremely impressed with the process. If you or the board are ever interested in receiving a first-hand acct., let me know.... About MAP Since its inception in 1981, the Museum Assessment Program (MAP) has helped more than 5,000 small and mid-sized museums of all types strengthen operations, plan for the future, and meet standards. Through a one-year process of self-assessment, institutional activities, and consultative peer review with a site visit and recommendations, your museum emerges with: Greater alignment of activities, mission, and resources Analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities Prioritized roadmap for improving operations and meeting standards Practices benchmarked to standards Enhanced credibility with potential funders and donors Improved communications between staff, board, and other constituents Expert advice, recommendations, and resources Increased capacity for strategic planning Preparation for core document verification, accreditation or reaccreditation MAP offers five different assessments to choose from: Organizational Collections Stewardship Education & Interpretation Community & Audience Engagement Board Leadership Find out which one is right for your museum and the date for the next application deadline. MAP is supported through a cooperative agreement between the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the American Alliance of Museums.
The problem of having too much material is a common one to museums. Have you considered having a museum web site where you could scan or photograph the ads and photos that you have collected? It is a good, fairly cheap and easy way tye display a lot of that part of your collection.
The museum has already started moving in the digital direction and it's fun to sneak a peek! https://delwebbsuncitiesmuseum.org/research/
Pun intended, here's the history. Mid 2000's we got a grant to buy a museum software package. It is used by most of the museum's in the state. Unfortunately over the years we have had a variety of people do data input. Most of them weren't trained in how to properly enter it and consequently when you do a "search," it's fairly ineffective. We now know we need to re-enter data if we ever want to use it the way it was intended to be used. Our web site is on a word press platform and our goal is to create a far more highly developed, easily searchable and way more user friendly. For now, we have stuff kind of out there, but within two years we hope to rebuild it into the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum and Research Center. By fall's opening we are looking to create a virtual tour of our new exhibits. Hopefully those will have built in interactive screens to access the site that will compliment the exhibits. SCJ, we need to have coffee and chat.
Yep, coffee-- esp. after you look over the MAP stuff. Too bad about the data entry problem but glad improvements will be on the horizon!
