The Manual of Museum Management

Despite recessions and rapid social change, museums remain highly successful cultural institutions. Museum management in the 21st century will have to respond to many challenges-including higher visitor expectations-whilst maintaining core objectives. The Manual of Museum Management presents a comprehensive and incisive analysis of the principles of museum organization, the ways in which people work together to accomplish museum objectives, and the ways in which museums, large and small, can function most effectively. An outstanding group of contributors has added case studies from museums and galleries around the world, bringing the principles to life with first-hand accounts of challenges and achievements in the operation of museums today. Including a foreword by Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate Gallery, this easy-reference manual provides essential advice and guidance for anyone involved in the creation, development, and management of museums. Visit the authors' web page

About the Author :
Barry Lord is co-founder and Director of LORD Cultural Resources Planning and Management Inc. With Gail Dexter Lord he is also co-editor of The Manual of Museum Planning (1999) and of The Manual of Museum Exhibitions (2001). A former curator, art critic, art historian and museum educator, he has organized and curated many exhibitions over the past four decades, and planned exhibition galleries and facilities for hundreds of museums on four continents. His work is well known in Singapore, Korea, Australia and Hong Kong, as well as in Great Britain, the United States and Canada. He also lectures on museum planning and management worldwide. Gail Dexter Lord is co-founder and Director of LORD Cultural Resources Planning and Management Inc. With Barry Lord she is also co-editor of The Manual of Museum Planning (1999) and of The Manual of Museum Exhibitions (2001). She has directed planning and management studies, visitor evaluation and exhibition development projects for hundreds of museums and galleries throughout the United Kingdom, continental Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. An inspiring teacher, she also teaches museum planning and management worldwide.

Review :
"Published at a time when museums are in search of common ground, The Manual of Museum Management provides a tool with which we may begin to understand and deal with the challenges that are confronting museums. The book offers a shared vocabulary and analytical framework through which to rethink the museum. It is structured into three parts, discussing, in turn, the why, the who, and the how of museum management. That three quarters of its pages are devoted to the how is a particular strength....The book offers itself as a point of reference for all the diverse interests that comprise a museum. It gives museum directors a conductor's podium on which to make music from the chorus of curators, designers, educators, registrars, constituents, volunteers, board members, funding agencies, and the general public....Well-illustrated with tables and figures, the text also includes a dozen case studies....A useful appendix of job descriptions and qualifications for museum positions and a glossary defining key terms." --Patrick Norris, Kalamazoo Valley History Center, AASLH History News