This is a submission to the "Interrogating the social realities of information and communications systems pre-conference workshop, ASIST AM 2006."

This is the authorâ s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Museum Management and Curatorship. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Museum Management and Curatorship, 21 (4), 317-335. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.musmancur.2006.09.003 / This paper presents results from twenty-one semi-structured interviews with museum information professionals who were asked about their experiences working with information resources, tools, and technologies in museums. The interviews were analyzed to develop an understanding of the information literacy skills of museum information professionals. This paper presents the results of this analysis, and discusses the state of information literacy in museums and the increasing need for museum information professionals to possess information literacy skills. The results illustrate how information literacy is defined by information professionals in museums, and how perceptions of information literacy and its importance to museums have changed over time.

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On a Tuesday night in the spring of 2007, my legal class taught by Bill Abbott had a guest speaker. Her name was Liz Williams and she was the president of the new Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Though she was in class to give a presentation on legal issues, she also spoke about the task of putting together a new museum, how a food museum was a unique idea that would work well in a city such as New Orleans, and why the concept of food and beverage would appeal to a variety of people -- tourists and locals alike. I got it immediately. I understood the concept, the need, the way it would work, everything. I knew that I wanted to be involved with this museum somehow. By the end of summer, I had completed a practicum and had arranged for an internship at this new museum, which was nicknamed SoFAB. Within a few weeks f my internship, I would leave my job as grants officer at the New Orleans Museum of Art to become Director of Collections at SoFAB. It's a risk, leaving an established and well-funded institution for a much smaller establishment that doesn't yet have an employee manual. I think it's worth it. One of the appealing concepts about working at a brand new museum is that employees do everything -- put together exhibitions, work the gift shop, staff the special events, serve as librarians, collect the artifacts. It's a wonderful way to gain experience. During my internship, I wore many hats but my duties focused on four main areas: marketing; funding/development; collections; and curatorial/exhibitions.

This multi-case study creates a better understanding of the relationship between four museum educators' personal theories of teaching and their practice in university museums. The question that frames this study is, "How, in a university museum setting, do museum educators' personal theories of teaching relate to their educational practices?" The aim was to produce an account of museum educators' personal theories and practices in university museums and interrogate what factors may influence the relationship between the two. While there is some literature about the personal theories and practices of museum educators, no studies have been found that examine museum educators working in university museums in the United Kingdom. This study addresses this gap by exploring four museum educators' personal theories and practices in three museum educational programmes in two university museums in a university city. This study is positioned within a qualitative tradition. Data for this study was collected using semi-structured interviews and observations. In total four pre-interviews, 24 observations and 24 post-interviews were conducted with four museum educators in two university museums in a UK city. Thematic analysis was the approach taken for the analysis of each case study. Findings in relation to the museum educators' personal theories suggest that there were important similarities in the museum educators' personal theories. All the museum educators' personal theories consisted of elements relative to knowledge, learning and learners, and the facilitation of a positive learning environment. The museum educators' personal theories of teaching relative to the nature of knowledge, learning and learners, varied per the discipline of the museum they taught in. It was found that personal theories were influenced by the museum educators' shared background as former school teachers and, for some, their accumulated experience teaching in university museum settings. Thus, they tend to foster educational settings with characteristics typical of formal learning environments. The key finding in relation to the research question of this study, is that in a university museum setting, the personal theories of teaching of the museum educators were often aligned with their practices; in some cases, they were not. Whether the museum educators could align their practices with their personal theories of teaching appeared to depend on the sociocultural context they worked in. Despite, as previously noted, similarities in the four personal theories of teaching (i.e. relative to knowledge, learning and learners and the facilitation of a positive learning environment), there were differences in how these were translated into practice by each museum educator. This research contributes to the field of museum education by: i) enhancing our understanding of museum educators' personal theories of teaching and practice in university museums; ii) providing fresh insights into the relationship between the personal theories of teaching and practice of museum educators working in university museums and; iii) adding to our understanding of the breadth of learning environments in museum education. The findings of this study are significant because they enrich the empirical knowledge and understanding of museum educator teaching in university museums. This study provides insights that may benefit the training and professional development of museum educators in university museums.

This qualitative, soft-systems case study examined the digital strategy development process at a large Midwest art museum in the United States. The study explored the process of working together to create the strategy, the role of education, and the general form of the development process through a soft systems lens. The findings of this case study include the importance of open communication and organizational flexibility in order to arrive at a digital strategy, the importance of an outside consultant to guide the process, and the role of the educator as an advocate for big picture thinking in the process. While this study provides an in-depth look at digital strategy development, further research is necessary to understand the long-term effects and success of digital strategies in the art museum. Regardless, this study argues for opportunities for digital strategy development in smaller to mid-sized museums, placing educators as important advocates of evaluation of the digital strategy process, and maintaining organizational flexibility in developing digital strategies. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2019. / March 1, 2019. / art museum, digital strategy, soft systems, systems thinking / Includes bibliographical references. / Ann Rowson Love, Professor Directing Dissertation; Paul Marty, University Representative; Pat Villeneuve, Committee Member; Jeff Broome, Committee Member.

By the 20th Century, tax codes made a distinction between for-profit and not-for-profit organisations. The distinction was that not-for- profits were to supply a service to society like hospitals, churches and museums. The distinctions are no longer clear. There is a demand for 'new breed' or hybrid directors in an environment favoring economic capital and searching for people who can be champions for social capital. This international cross-disciplinary research explores the leadership challenge through personal interviews and survey feedback with 72 museum directors or associate directors across Australia, the United States, England and Canada. Organisation psychology and management theory is brought to the field of art history. Art history is the traditional breeding ground for museum directors. In concluding, the thesis argues for a range of propositions to address the current leadership crisis in art museums based on a new understanding of leadership and leadership development / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1982. / Vita. Abstract. Also available via the Internet.