Museum Governance Mission, Ethics, Policy

by MALARO, MARIE

• ISBN13: 9781560983637
• ISBN10: 1560983639
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781588343819
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-07-17
• Publisher: HARPER COLLINS

Summary

InMuseum Governance, Marie Malaro addresses a range of issues facing museum administrators and trustees, arguing they can handle their duties intelligently only if they understand two pointswhy our country sustains a nonprofit sector and what constitutes trusteeship. Armed with this knowledge, trustees can sort out knotty problems relating to corporate sponsorship, entrepreneurial activities, and fundraising in ways that preserve the integrity of the nonprofit. Malaro first explores the principles of nonprofit governance. She explains the purpose and use of professional codes of ethics and offers practical advice about board education and its role in fostering the long-term health of an organization. She then applies these principles to situations frequently confronting trustees, discussing how to set collection strategies, balance mission and entreprenurial ventures, handle deaccessioning, maintain effective board oversight, approach automation, and deal with repatriation requests.

Author Biography

Marie C. Malaro is an attorney, former legal advisor to the Smithsonian Institution, and the former director of the graduate program in museum studies at George Washington University. She is also the author of A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections, second edition (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998).

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Part 1. Lessons for Board Members
On Trusteeship	3	(13)
Why Ethics?	16	(6)
Steering a Prudent Course	22	(7)
The Education of Nonprofit Boards	29	(7)
What May Lie Ahead	36	(7)
Part 2. Applying Theory to Practice
Controlled Collecting: Drafting a Collection Management Policy	43	(7)
Deaccessioning: The American Perspective	50	(10)
Exercising Oversight	60	(8)
The Myopic Board: The United Way and United Cancer Council Cases	68	(11)
Restricted Gifts and Museum Responsibilities	79	(29)
Lending for Profit	108	(10)
Poor Sue: The Realities of Protecting Archeological and Paleontological Artifacts	118	(11)
From Card File to Computer	129	(9)
Repatriation and the Law	138	(5)
Appendix A. Codes of Ethics Relating to the Museum Profession	143	(2)
Appendix B. International Council of Museums Code of Professional Ethics	145	(18)
Notes	163