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Christina Armes
Ms. Bradley
ENC2135
15 October 2015
The American Alliance of Museums: Serving the Public Through Dedication to Its Members
Though often stereotyped as boring and stuffy, museums have gained an important
foothold in society. With over 850 million visits per year, their influence has spread far and wide
throughout the nation and the world (Facts). Museums have been utilizing their influence
effectively by engaging society in every aspect. They provide employment, serve the community,
initiate tourism, enhance education, champion conservation, and preserve that which is
fundamental to our history.
However, museums have not always possessed this important role in society. In fact, the
focus of museums has not always been to serve the public. In his essay entitled From Being
About Something to Being For Somebody, Stephen Weil explains that museums have shifted
their focus from inward to outward. Instead of a museums purpose being about how the public
can view, observe, and preserve the objects within, museums now understand that their true
purpose is to use the objects within to serve the public. Preservation and research have no
importance if they are not used to benefit the public (170).
As stated in the aforementioned article by Stephen Weil, museums began to realize their
role in the post-World War II era when financially struggling museums grappled to find a way to
sustain themselves. The best solution to maintain sustainability was to focus on what the public
would consume. Ever since, museums have maintained a public-focused role and utilize their
resources to serve the community. The American Alliance of Museums, also known as the AAM,

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have played an important role in furthering the museums role in the community. In an interview
with Dr. Susan Baldino, she explains that the AAM is a professional organization that focuses on
educating its members. The AAMs mission statement focuses on training the museum
community, not directly interacting with the public (The Spark). However, this does not mean
that the AAM is not community centered. The AAM exists to serve the public through its
dedication to the museum community. They serve the community by advocating for museums,
establishing standards for its institutions, training its professionals, and through its publications.
Museum advocacy is an important part of the AAMs role in bolstering the museum
community. The AAM lobbies the United States Congress for various funds and endowments so
that museums may have the resources they need to serve the community. This is no small task;
obtaining government funds is a long and difficult process that does not always come to fruition.
The AAM has published an article entitled Issues at a Glance that gives a summary of their
various advocacy programs. By advocating for museums, the AAM also indirectly advocates for
the community. Their advocacy affects the community by keeping museums open for public use,
by strengthening the economy, and by enhancing the education system.
The bulk of funds museums receive comes from the federal government. However, there
is a hierarchy to how funding is dispersed. According to the aforementioned article published by
the AAM, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is responsible for offering
grants to deserving institutions (Issues at a Glance). Unfortunately, inadequate government
funding to the IMLS has restricted the IMLSs ability to fund deserving institutions. Not only is
the IMLS inadequately funded, but the Office of Museum Services (OMS) within the IMLS
receives only a small portion of IMLS funds. In fact, in 2015, the OMS received only $30.1

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million of the $227.9 million dispersed to the IMLS. Without adequate funding from the IMLS,
museums lose a significant portion of the funding that keeps their doors open.
The AAM not only lobbies congress to increase funds for the OMS specifically, but it
also lobbies congress to increase the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities. The
Endowment for the Humanities awards museums and other institutions funds for research,
education, and preservation. The National Endowment for the Arts awards funds to museums and
other institutions to give underprivileged communities access to the arts. These two endowments
are critical for museums because they provide museums with the resources needed to reach out
to the community (Issues at a Glance). If the museum cannot connect with the community, it
becomes irrelevant. By promoting museums in Congress and obtaining funds for their
institutions, the AAM allows museums to continue their research and share that research with the
community.
The AAM also indirectly influences the community through its advocacy by creating jobs
within the field. According to the aforementioned Issues at a Glance article, museums
comprise of $21 billion of the U.S. economy and provide more than 400,000 jobs. Museums also
contribute greatly to the tourism industry. When Congress prevented zoos and aquariums from
benefiting from the economic stimulus bill and granted scarcely any of the bill to museums, jobs
suffered. As a result, employees were out of work for 16 days when the government shut down in
2013. AAMs role is to encourage Congress to allow museums to stay open in lieu of a
government shutdown and to grant aquariums, zoos, and museums access to federal funds. By
doing this, the AAM protects museum employees and bolsters an industry that occupies a
significant portion of the economy.

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In addition to keeping museum doors open and bolstering the economy, the AAM also
contributes to the enhancement of the education system. They seek to establish stronger ties
between both primary and secondary schools and museums and wish to foster a closer
relationship between the Department of Education and the IMLS. By advocating for museums to
have stronger ties to education, the AAM allows youth to benefit from what museums have to
offer. As places of education and culture, museums are especially important to children because
they provide a learning atmosphere that is unique from the traditional classroom learning
atmosphere.
Not only does the AAM serve the community through its advocacy, but it also serve the
community through its standards for museums. According to an article written by Willard Boyd
called Museum Accountability, there are two types of museum standards: ethics codes and
institutional accreditation (68). Both sets of standards apply to museum institutions as a whole,
but the code of ethics is also a guide for individuals within the field. Both sets of standards
ensure that museum professionals do not lose sight of the museums mission and public focus.
According to the aforementioned article by Willard Boyd, ethics are the rules of conduct
adopted by a profession for serving its clientele and for regulating relationships among the
professionals themselves, (68). Essentially, the codes purpose is to maintain good relations
with the public and within the body of employees. The code also creates a system of checks and
balances on the museums employees. Earlier in the article, Boyd mentions how sometimes
museum curators will use their institution connections to acquire items for their own personal
collections (64). The duty of loyalty ensures that museum workers maintain a museum, mission,
and public mindset and not a strictly personal agenda. Other ethical difficulties come in tough
financial situations, where the museum can easily fail to place the public at the forefront of their

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decisions and instead places their own agenda first. Thus, the museum must enact the duty of
care, which guarantees that each decision is best for the museum. These two underlying
principles provide the foundation for the code of ethics.
The AAMs standard code of ethics underscores the importance of maintaining a good
reputation before both the government and the public, since their non-profit status relies heavily
on both parties. The AAMs code of ethics provides guidance for three aspects of a museum:
governance, collections, and programs. First, the governance guidelines state that a museums
members must be unified by the museums mission, that they must serve the public in
accordance with the mission, and that the museums everyday practices must be a reflection of
these two truths. The collections guidelines affirm the museums duty to collect in accordance
with its mission, to utilize its collections for public use, and to care for its collections (Code of
Ethics). The AAMs code of ethics places the public at the forefront of its vision because it
shows that the Alliance strives to maintain decent museum practices that would best serve the
public. Self-promotion and self-dealing within museums does not foster a publicly oriented
atmosphere. The code prevents individuals from enacting upon their own desires and defeating
the missions purpose.
In addition to the code of ethics, the AAM formed a set of accreditation standards in 1970
to relay to the public which institutions meet professional standards. Museum evaluation
standards are critical for the public because Boyd states that the general public cannot determine
the quality of the museums services as easily as it can judge that of consumer goods, (69). The
purpose of accreditation is to set standards for institutions without forcing all of them to conform
to one set of rules. Instead, individual museums may adhere to the AAMs accreditation
standards while still displaying their specialized and unique work. There are two questions that

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are the foundation of the AAMs accreditation standards. The first question is to gauge how
effectively the museum realizes its mission and accomplishes its goals. The second question
serves to evaluate how the museum performs in light of the established standards in the museum
community. The standards particulars encompass the museums mission, practices, and values
aspects as well as the business, leadership, and education components of a museum
(Characteristics of Excellence). These six qualities serve as means to accomplish the two
aforementioned foundational questions of the accreditation process. These accreditation
standards support the community for two reasons. First, the public is guaranteed that certain
institutions are meeting professional standards. Second, museums are encouraged to meet these
professional standards. This, in turn, allows for the creation of more professional institutions for
the betterment of society. The competitive pursuit of professionalism not only furthers the
museum field and its reputation, but it advances the communitys knowledge and awareness as
well.
Lastly, the AAM exhibits its public concentration through its publications. The most
influential publications come from the AAMs Center for the Future of Museums. This center
posts two kinds of publications: Trendswatch and weekly newsletters. Trendswatch is the AAMs
assessment of current trends and how those trends affect the museum community. The newsletter
discusses news and trends both within and without the AAM. This newsletter is a current report
of recent activities within the community.
Trendswatch is a valuable resource for both the professional community within the AAM
and the general public. By publishing the resulting data from public trends, the museum
community can more effectively engage the community by addressing that which the public
believes is most important. In the report, Merritt covers a wide range of current issues. One issue

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she discusses is wearable technology. First, she explains the trend and its history and science.
Basically, the wearable technology trend is the current technological boom that has allowed
electronic devices to become more compact and easily worn on the body. Merrit explains how
wearable technology has practical and everyday uses but can also make strides in other fields as
well, such as prosthetics and even the food industry (Merritt 44). Next, she explains the strengths
and weaknesses of the issue. Lastly, she relates the current trend to museums. There are both
good and bad implications for museums with any trend. This new trend can offer preservationist
new opportunities to record their work, but the new trend can also pose problems for the
longevity of electronic artwork. To conclude this issue, she explains how this new trend ought to
be used if museums were to incorporate it into their experience.
The Trendswatch report is critical to the AAMs public focus because it shows their direct
engagement with society. By recording these trends and seeking out the best way to encourage
museums to incorporate these trends, the AAM incorporates public feedback into their decisionmaking. Additionally, it shows that the AAM wants their museums to display that which the
public wants. Thus, the public indirectly gains authority on what should be in a museum.
Additionally, the AAMs Center for the Future of Museums posts a weekly newsletter
that communicates recent news and trends in the community. The newsletter will often have a
summary of the weekly post on the CFMs blog as well as a summary of recent trends. Though
these trends are not always museum-related, it shows the AAMs effort to connect to the
community through the CFM. For example, within the newsletter is an article about how Alaska
needs to move an entire village because of global warming. Another topic within the newsletter
discusses fundraising issues for the AFP/Urban Institute (Center for the Future). This newsletter
is important because it keeps the public updated not only on the museum communitys news, but

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also important trends that may appear in the Trendswatch reports. As a result, the AAM
strengthens their credibility by being a valuable source of information.
The AAM, though an organization whose purpose is to bolster the professional museum
community, focuses their vision on the community. First, the AAM shows their public focus by
advocating for museums before Congress. By lobbying for federal funds, the AAM allows
museums to keep their doors open to the public, that they may benefit from that which is within
the museum. Secondly, the AAM displays their public focus through their standards. Maintaining
high standards ensures that museums continue to strive for excellence and give the community
an enlightening museum experience. Lastly, the AAMs publications show their commitment to
following current trends in order to guide museums in how to shift their focus to the
communitys primary concerns. Additionally, these publications provide valuable information to
the reader about the current trends. In turn, the publications serve to strengthen the AAMs
reputation as a reliable source of information for the community. Overall, without the
community, there would be no need for the AAM to professionalize its members. With a
community-oriented mindset, the AAM can properly train its professionals and better the
museum field and society as a whole.

Im so sorry I couldnt give you better feedback you just sound so dang smart and my
brain is not okay with that this morning I think this paper is REALLY good.

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Works Cited
American Alliance of Museums. American Alliance of Museums, 2013. Web. 12 October 2015.
Boyd, Willard L. Museum Accountability. Reinventing the Museum: The Evolving
Conversation on the Paradigm Shift. Ed. Gail Anderson. New York: Altamira Press,
2012. 170-188. Print.
Center for the Future of Museums. (2015). Museums Explore the Future Dispatches From the
Future of Museums, 10(2). Web. 14 October 2015.
Code of Ethics For Museums. American Alliance of Museums. American Alliance of
Museums: 2013. Web. 6 October 2015.
Facts. American Alliance of Museums. American Alliance of Museums: 2013.
Web. 6 October 2015.
Issues at a Glance. American Alliance of Museums. American Alliance of Museums: 2013.
Web. 3 October 2015.
Merritt, Elizabeth E. Trendswatch 2015. The American Alliance of Museums. The American
Alliance of Museums. 2015. Web. 7 October 2015.
The Spark: Strategic Plan. The American Alliance of Museums. The American Alliance of
Museums. 2013. Web. 6 October 2015.
Susan Baldino, interview by Christina Armes, October 7, 2015.

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Weil, Stephen E. From Being About Something to Being For Somebody. Reinventing
the Museum: The Evolving Conversation on the Paradigm Shift. Ed. Gail Anderson. New
York: Altamira Press, 2012. 170-188. Print.