The Museum Assessment Program (MAP), which is supported through a cooperative agreement between the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the American Alliance of Museums, is designed to help small and mid-sized museums strengthen operations, plan for the future, and meet national standards through self-study and a site visit from a peer reviewer.
The program offers five assessments:
Organizational Assessment
The emphasis is on helping a museum look at its operations primarily from the perspective of how well activities, resources, and mission align with each other, and with professional ethics, practices, and standards.
Collections Stewardship Assessment
The emphasis is on practical, ethical, and strategic collections issues, and activities related to the care and management of a museum’s collections per professional practices and standards. This assessment also looks at collections within the context of the museum’s total operations, plans, and resource allocation.
Education and Interpretation Assessment
This assessment helps a museum evaluate how well it is carrying out its educational role and mission. The focus is on meeting core standards for education and interpretation, in addition to looking at a museum's current content delivery vehicles such as its exhibitions, tours, and programs.
Community and Audience Engagement Assessment
This assessment focuses on a museum’s awareness and understanding of, and relationship with, its various communities and audiences, and their perception of, and experience with, the museum.
Board Leadership Assessment
This assessment is for private non-profit museums with policy-making boards and paid staff which are looking for guidance on how to strengthen their institution and ensure its long-term success through more effective leadership-oriented governance.
Support consists of up to $4,000 of consultative resources and services.
Click here for more information
