Organizations and Directories

  • AAM: American Alliance of Museums has been a leader in developing best practices and advocating for museums, as well as providing a host of opportunities to museum staff and volunteers. Membership is reasonably priced -- if you're inclined to join -- and provides many benefits, including access to its Resource Library and the full archive of its flagship publication, Museum Magazine. In addition to a topics page, blog postings, data and fact sheets, the site also links to Museopunks, a podcast on progressive museum work.
  • ICOM [International Council of Museums] housed at the UNESCO building in Paris, is an international organization representing museums and museum professionals. Founded in 1946, ICOM represents 136 countries and territories. In addition to publishing standards, ethical guidelines, issue statements, bibliographies, and Red Lists (of threatened cultural properties across the globe), it also provides substantial news content.
  • IMLS [Institute of Museum and Library Services] is the central US government funding agency for museum initiatives. In addition to a good deal of grant information, it makes many reports and publications available, and has a robust data catalog.
  • NEA [National Endowment for the Arts] provides grant-funding, and has published, since 1982, the largest, most representative survey of adult patterns in arts participation. From the survey home page, you can link into research reports and arts data profiles, including archived ones.
  • The Official Museum Directory (Access provided via Harvard) is the authority for reliable museum data. The Directory is a one-stop source for museum professionals, students, library patrons, and researchers who need comprehensive information on those institutions committed to celebrating and preserving the world’s culture, art, music, nature, and history.