CAA News Today
Congress to Hold Hearing on Museums and Libraries
posted by Christopher Howard — September 09, 2008
The Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities in the US House of Representatives is scheduled to hold an informational hearing on museums and libraries at 9:30 AM EST on Thursday, September 11, 2008. The subcommittee will be examining how museums and libraries help to strengthen communities and will specifically focus on programs where museums partner with local government entities to solve community problems. One such program expected to be highlighted is a children’s museum that uses an IMLS grant to support a collaborative initiative between the museum, the county’s child welfare agency, and the family court system.
“Museums and libraries are playing such a vital role in communities around the nation,” said Ford W. Bell, president of the American Association of Museums (AAM). “I commend Chairwoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Ranking Member Todd Platts (R-PA) for calling this hearing to explore the exceptional work that museums and libraries are doing to strengthen communities.” He added, “I hope the museum field will be able to listen in on the Committee proceedings.”
The witness list for the hearing includes: Anne-Imelda M. Radice, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, DC; Suzanne LeBlanc, executive director of the Long Island Children’s Museum in New York; Mary Clare Zales, deputy secretary of education and commissioner for libraries in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Anna Nunez, executive director of the Arizona Health Science Library at the University of Arizona in Tucson; and Eric Jolly, president of the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota.
For additional information about museum advocacy, visit AAM’s Museum Advocacy Action Center, Speak Up for Museums, or email AAM’s grassroots manager, Ember Farber. Please keep in mind that all Congressional action is subject to change, and the committee website will usually reflect any changes.
New AAM Standards on Cultural Property
posted by Christopher Howard — September 04, 2008
The American Association of Museums (AAM) has established new standards for the museum acquisition of archaeological material and ancient art that emphasize proper provenance of such objects and complete transparency on the part of the acquiring institutions. The product of two years of concerted research and vetting from the museum field, the Standards Regarding Archaeological Material and Ancient Art provide clear ethical guidance on collecting such material to discourage illicit excavation of archaeological sites and monuments. The standards also require museums to create a publicly available collections policy that sets institutional standards for provenance when acquiring archaeological material and ancient art.
CAA has also established Standards and Guidelines on similar topics, including the Resolution Concerning the Acquisition of Cultural Properties Originating in Foreign Countries (1973) and the Statement on the Importance of Documenting the Historical Context of Objects and Sites (2004).
Survey on Library and Museum Digitization Published
posted by Christopher Howard — September 04, 2008
Research and Markets, a publisher of international marketing and research data based in Dublin, Ireland, has just produced The International Survey of Library and Museum Digitization Projects. The study presents and summarizes data on digitization programs at academic, public, and government libraries and museums in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and more. Discussed are issues related to staffing, training, funding, outsourcing, permissions and copyright clearance, cataloguing, software and applications selection, and marketing. The International Survey is available for sale on the Research and Markets website.
Ann Temkin Named Chief Curator at MoMA
posted by Christopher Howard — September 03, 2008
The Museum of Modern Art in New York has announced that Ann Temkin will succeed John Elderfield as chief curator of painting and sculpture. Temkin, who served for thirteen years at the Philadephia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, has been a curator at MoMA for five years. Among her exhibitions there are Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today (2008) and Against the Grain: Contemporary Art from the Edward R. Broida Collection (2006).
The New York Times has the story. Photograph by Robin Holland and provided by the Museum of Modern Art.