Leading the Historical Enterprise: Strategic Creativity, Planning, and Advocacy for the Digital Age presents new ideas and strategies for leading and innovating in museums, historical societies, historic sites, and other state and local history programs. The book blends insights from the best practices of model historical programs and museums with themes from the best recent studies of leadership. This is a practical book with concrete suggestions that can be applied in just about any program setting. It covers: -Demographics, technology, resource constraints, and other forces that are...

Growing public interest in environmental sustainability is a gift to historic sites and museums. It is an invitation to use our knowledge, collections, and sites to discuss how human practices and interactions with the environment in past were and were not environmentally sustainable. Being green still has a great deal to do with using less energy, buying less stuff, and recycling more, but now sustainability just as important in strategic planning, interpretation and public engagement. Environmental Sustainability at Historic Sites and Museums details how to go green at every level of your...

Growing public interest in environmental sustainability is a gift to historic sites and museums. It is an invitation to use our knowledge, collections, and sites to discuss how human practices and interactions with the environment in past were and were not environmentally sustainable. Being green still has a great deal to do with using less energy, buying less stuff, and recycling more, but now sustainability just as important in strategic planning, interpretation and public engagement. Environmental Sustainability at Historic Sites and Museums details how to go green at every level of your...

This book of five case studies demonstrates the critical role entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinking play in reinventing cultural organizations to make them relevant and sustainable for the twenty-first century and beyond. Through the twin lenses of cultural entrepreneurship and organizational change, these readable and inspirational cases offer an in-depth analysis of how a variety of cultural organizations--small and large; local, regional and national; museums and arts organizations--have found opportunities in complex situations to create new identities and missions and, in doing so,...

This book of five case studies demonstrates the critical role entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinking play in reinventing cultural organizations to make them relevant and sustainable for the twenty-first century and beyond. Through the twin lenses of cultural entrepreneurship and organizational change, these readable and inspirational cases offer an in-depth analysis of how a variety of cultural organizations--small and large; local, regional and national; museums and arts organizations--have found opportunities in complex situations to create new identities and missions and, in doing so,...

Museum and Historic Site Management: A Case Study Approach 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 case studies are fictionalized representations of real life situations that have occurred at museums, historic sites, and non-profit organizations. Elements from multiple situations will be incorporated into each case study to create multi-faceted scenarios that challenge the reader to develop their own creative, yet pragmatic...

Museum and Historic Site Management: A Case Study Approach 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 case studies are fictionalized representations of real life situations that have occurred at museums, historic sites, and non-profit organizations. Elements from multiple situations will be incorporated into each case study to create multi-faceted scenarios that challenge the reader to develop their own creative, yet pragmatic...

Museums and historic sites faced with small budgets and staff can find it intimidating to redesign or create a website from scratch. Concerns over resources make coding and designing (or hiring someone to do so) daunting and expensive. It does not have to be so. Content creation is inescapable when making a website, but designing and constructing a unique website can be as simple as taking an afternoon to use a color chart to pick a color scheme and paste in text from a Word document. All of the tools discussed in the book are free at the base level, and some offer upgrade packages with even...

Museums and historic sites faced with small budgets and staff can find it intimidating to redesign or create a website from scratch. Concerns over resources make coding and designing (or hiring someone to do so) daunting and expensive. It does not have to be so. Content creation is inescapable when making a website, but designing and constructing a unique website can be as simple as taking an afternoon to use a color chart to pick a color scheme and paste in text from a Word document. All of the tools discussed in the book are free at the base level, and some offer upgrade packages with even...

Because of limited (or no) staff, membership management in libraries and museums is often undertaken by staff and volunteers with no experience in membership. This can mean that museum membership levels are stagnant or dropping or Friends of the Libraries groups have few members. In either case, the organization suffers because of less-than-optimal revenues. Membership marketing and management is an ever more demanding role within the institutions served meeting fiscal demands, keeping pace with online marketing opportunities, and making data-driven decisions. The demands are diverse and...