Starting Right: A Basic Guide to Museum Planning

by Gerald George

Economic and cultural issues that no one contemplated facing 50 years ago are critical to the planning process for today's successful museum. This new edition of Starting Right, revised from the first edition by Gerald George and Cindy Sherrell-Leo, still provides sound guidance in a handbook designed to explain the basics of museum planning in an evening's reading but it has been fully revised and updated to address the current issues facing new museums. Here in straightforward language you will find out what a museum is--philosophically and historically--some pros and cons of establishing your museum, up-to-date resource lists, and good basic advice on all aspects of museums from the choice of a building through collections care, registration, exhibitions, conservation, staffing, financial management, and fund raising.

Genres: Museums, Museology

176 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2004

Reviews

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading the previous edition I was most impressed by the questions the authors recommended people ask themselves - why they wanted to start a museum, what their goals were, how they would sustain the operation, etc etc. In this edition I was more struck by the focus on reaching out and talking to others. We see it all too often, a struggling group refuses to engage with the heritage community for its entire existence, and then when it runs into financial difficulty the group cries foul and demands public dollars. Any resources like this should contain very strong statements about talking and working with colleagues and organizations. So where did the book lose points? I think they could & should have been much stronger in issuing such statements. The reality is that North America cannot sustain the existing museums. Partnership is the name of the game, not re-inventing the wheel.