Books in the American Association for State and Local History series

Captures the life stories of thirteen visionary museum leaders who helped transform the 19th century's collection of curios into institutions of public service and education. This book recounts the stories of pioneers in American history, science, art, and general museums. It is suitable for those interested in the history of the museum.

If you're part of the leadership team of a small historic house museum or historical society, you might consider rebranding -- either renaming your organization or developing a new look - to make your organization more appealing to a younger, more diverse audience. Here's a guide to doing that.

Collections management can be a daunting task for volunteers and employees alike. Archives for the Lay Person provides practical, step-by-step guidance for those managing all facets of archival collections at small organizations.

Dramatic impersonations accompanied by informed discussions are becoming increasingly popular methods of educating visitors to museums and historical sites. This is the first book to provide step-by-step instructions for how to conceive, plan, publicize, present, and pay for such historical presentations.

Museums and Millennials offers a new and innovative approach to attracting and retaining the interest of millennial patrons through an easy-to-implement and practical checklist. Check your museum's "A.U.R.A." (Affordability, Uniqueness, Relevance, and Accessibility) to ensure you are creating new programs and campaigns geared towards getting them.

Acclaimed for nearly thirty years as the most comprehensive introduction to research in North American family and community history, and now thoroughly updated, this book is essential for aspiring and practicing public and local historians.

Private History in Public examines history exhibits in small community museums and non-museum settings like bars, churches, and barbershops and argues that these exhibits promote dialogue on historical topics by engaging visitors with individualized perspectives.

Case Studies in Cultural Entrepreneurship offers highly focused case studies that demonstrate the critical role entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinking play in reinventing cultural organizations.

In this book, readers learn about leadership theory in both for profit and nonprofit worlds and how to effectively master the role of both leader and follower. It explores the reality of change in the workplace, the standards and best practices of businesses and museums, and innovative approaches to creating a nimble and responsive organization.

Preventive Conservation for Historic House Museums describes the care routines that a historic house should practice to protect the site and its collections from damage, wear, deterioration, and catastrophic loss.

A directory of museums about women, providing information about interpretive themes, historical significance of collections, and cultural and social relevance to women, along with programming events and facility information.

The country's leading authority on use of artifactual evidence in historical research collects twenty-five classic essays and gives his overview of the field of material culture.

Ideas and Images presents eleven case studies, walking you through the process of developing interpretive history exhibits. Learn how to identify and build new audiences, work with consultants and experts, cope with institutional change, present temporary and permanent exhibitions, and experiment with new subjects, design techniques and media

This volume in the Nearby History series helps the reader document the history of a home. The reader will learn to examine written records, oral testimonies, visual sources, and the house's surroundings. The author covers American housing patterns, the individual characteristics of houses in different regions, construction techniques and materials, household technology, and family life styles.Houses and Homes is Volume 2 in The Nearby History Series.

Oral history helps in empowering young people with a love of history. Peppered with tips, examples from students and teachers, and reproducible forms, along with a comprehensive bibliography, this book is suitable tool for anyone working with secondary students to plan and carryout oral history projects.

This open and engaging book will help you develop thematic tours and train your guides to lead those tours, while aiding you in managing your guide program effectively. The authors' unique approach includes clear step-by-step instructions supplemented with activities and readings.

Enlivened with many examples and the words of program planners, instructors, and participants, this book can show you a whole new world for your museum programs, and help you design programs that will allow your adult learners to enter that exciting and potentially life-changing world.

Museum Store Management is an essential resource for anyone planning to open or manage a museum store. The second edition contains an additional chapter on merchandising, many more illustrations and examples, and information on internet resources for museum store management.

The first comprehensive guide to identifying and interpreting items such as buttons, clasps, buckles, combs, and other items of personal adornment in early American museum collections and archaeological sites.

Alexander brings to life the stories of twelve ambitious leaders from the United States and Europe who helped shape the future of the museum world.

A guide to understanding digitization and managing a digitizing project. It helps readers decide if digitizing is for them, plan and manage, choose equipment, and manage databases.

Handbook for museums that wish to mount theatre productions.

Offers definitions for the terms that museum workers need to know. This book contains chapters which includes exercises. It is suitable for the classroom or for novice museum workers.

Often museums or libraries have the power to profoundly alter our sense of ourselves and of the world around us, but that power carries with it obligations. This work challenges us to contemplate both the effects and the responsibilities, and also to examine carefully the nuances of these experiences.

Museum and Historic Site Management utilizes the classic business case study approach to help museum and public history professionals think through different scenarios and understand/anticipate different points of view in resolving issues. The thirty case study topics include board management, fundraising, personnel planning, technology, and financial planning.