After hearing a short interview on NPR with author Michael M. Kaiser about his work on saving arts organizations on the brink of disaster, I was intrigued enough to buy his new book The Art of the Turnaround.Although his book was written before our current era of bailouts and mortgage meltdowns, I hoped his work experiences from the mid-1980s to around 2007 might offer some assistance to arts organizations facing the current economic crisis.In a...
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Ever wonder what happened to the "strategy" in strategic plan?If you have ever lost any sleep pondering how your supposedly strategic plan is going to address this current financial mess, then you will be overjoyed to find David La Piana's 2008 book, The NonProfit Strategy Revolution: Real-Time Strategic Planning in a Rapid-Response World.This little book (that comes with a very useful CD) offers a new way of creating a strategic plan that begins with...
The HRC thanks Kathleen Craughwell-Varda, Project Manager, Conservation ConneCTion, Connecticut State Library, in Hartford, CT, for volunteering to be a guest author for the following entry and for sharing her insight and experience with our readers.Trying to find reliable sources on caring for historic collections can be difficult, unless you know where to look. The Internet can be a wonderful tool for finding information and resources on collections care. Let me lead you on...
We can all remember a museum visit where we were unable to find the information we needed or a suitable place to sit and rest our feet when we tired; where we encountered a grouchy salesclerk or endured a dreadful tour; or where we found ourselves in a filthy bathroom or sticky café.Everything in life is about the first impression. When something bad happens it is easy to start pointing fingers. Even worse, we are...
The Museum Forms Book, edited by Kenneth D. Perry, comes under the category of "why re-invent the wheel?" First published in 1980, and now in its 3rd printing, the book is a compendium of all types of forms collected from museums in this country and as far flung as Great Britain and New Zealand. The Museum Forms Book includes sections on collections management, development, education, exhibitions, maintenance and security, and rights and reproductions.In most...
