Setting up a museum

Useful information and downloadable resources for groups and organisations who are thinking of setting up a museum.

Are you thinking about setting up a new museum? Have you considered other options? Is a new museum the right course of action? Would it be better to organise exhibitions in temporary locations with partners? Or what about a virtual museum?

There is nothing wrong in setting up a new museum, but they can be costly to run and are a lot more than a building with a collection of objects. Before you take the plunge make sure you have considered all of the options.

The following are essential reading:

AIM Focus Paper: Setting up a New Museum
The AIM website has a range of advice and information papers aimed at independent museums.  Setting up a New Museum specifically addresses these issues but there are also several others that are really useful and relevant including Creating and Implementing Forward Plans, Risk Management and Insurance for Museums, Learning in Smaller Museums and Working with Volunteers: An Introduction to Good Practice.
Download the AIM Focus Paper on Setting up a New Museum

Big Questions, Big Answers: A guide to issues surrounding heritage development
Published by the Scottish Museums Council.This takes a wider look at heritage than traditional museum displays and has a variety of case studies and suggested options.  It is useful for helping to focus thinking around the kinds of activities you can undertake with heritage and what interest there might be in them.  If you are seriously considering setting up a new museum, running through the ‘big questions’ at the back of this publication is an excellent place to start.
Download Big Questions, Big Answers: A guide to issues surrounding heritage development

The Museums Association’s Ethical Guidelines and Advice on Setting up a New Museum
The MA website has a number of downloadable documents about Ethical Guidelines, Toolkits and Advice.  These will help you to become aware of the ethical issues you need to be aware of when setting up a new museum.
Find out more about The MA’s Ethical Guidelines and Advice on Setting up a New Museum