Museum Glossary.

A

Accessibility

Giving everyone equitable access, across the full range of human ability and experience.

Advisory group

A group that offers expertise to the governing authority through recommendations, without the power to govern. It may be standing or ad hoc.

Annual pass program

A paid pass allowing repeat visits over a set period, sometimes covering several local venues.

Audience

The people who use the museum's services, grouped by how they engage or by demographics or interests.

Audience, target

A subgroup of a community, sharing traits or interests, that the museum chooses to reach.

Audience survey / study

Gathering data from current and potential audiences to learn who they are and what they think.

B

Benchmark

A reference point for measuring quality or value.

Best practices

Proven, replicable actions that solve problems and meet recognized standards.

C

Code of ethics

Standards of professional conduct for staff, board members, and volunteers that put the public interest first.

Collections plan

A time-limited plan that guides how the collection is built and refined, with goals, rationale, and responsibilities.

Community

The group or groups a museum serves, defined by geography, shared interest, or identity.

Community engagement

Working with diverse groups to meet community-identified needs in ways that benefit them.

Core Standards

AAM's standards for museums, in seven categories: public trust, mission and planning, leadership, collections, education, finances, and facilities and risk.

Culture

A group's shared experiences, beliefs, values, practices, and norms.

Curriculum plan

A written framework of goals and policies guiding how curriculum is developed and delivered.

D

Decolonization

A long, imperfect effort to undo the harm of colonial practices still embedded in society and institutions.

Diversity

The ways people differ and what they have in common; organizations examine who is and isn't represented.

Docent / guide

A volunteer or paid person who interprets the museum for visitors through tours or talks.

E

Educational ecosystem

The formal and informal learning organizations in a community and how they relate to one another.

Education master plan

A written plan setting education goals, audiences, content, delivery methods, and evaluation.

Equity

Fair and just treatment of all community members, which requires commitment, resources, and ongoing assessment.

Evaluation

Gathering reliable information from visitors before, during, and after development to plan activities and judge whether they meet their objectives.

Exhibit

A cohesive grouping of objects and interpretive materials within a gallery that conveys one idea.

Exhibition

A complete public presentation combining objects, text, graphics, and other elements around specific themes.

Exhibit / exhibition plan or policy

A written plan covering exhibition schedules, goals, interpretive guidelines, loans, and object care.

F

Financial resources

The museum's income and expenses.

Focus group

A planned, informal discussion on a set topic with a small, carefully selected group.

Forecasting

Using data to identify trends and project future conditions.

Friends / auxiliary group

A separately incorporated support organization that provides money, volunteers, or expertise.

Full-time staff

Employees working 35 or more hours per week.

G

Governing authority

The body with legal and fiduciary responsibility for the museum, such as a board of trustees or city council.

H

Head of governing authority

The elected or appointed leader of the body to which the museum's director reports.

Human resources

All paid and unpaid people who regularly work at the museum.

I

Immersive experience

An experience in which a visitor feels deeply absorbed and engaged.

Implicit bias

Unconscious attitudes and expectations that shape decisions without our full awareness.

Inclusion

Ongoing effort to fully involve diverse people in all of an organization's work, including decisions, and to value them as respected members.

Inquiry-based learning

A teaching method that uses questions and problems to spark curiosity and critical thinking.

Institutional plan

See Strategic plan.

Intern

A student or trainee gaining career experience, paid or unpaid.

Interpretation

The media and activities through which a museum carries out its mission and educational role, grounded in learning theory.

Interpretive plan

A document outlining the stories and messages the museum wants to convey, and to whom.

L

Learning, formal

Structured learning with predetermined skills or knowledge, often tested.

Learning, informal

Self-directed learning that can lead to unplanned outcomes.

Learning, self-directed

Learning in which the individual owns the process, with or without guidance.

Learning organization

An organization that continually develops knowledge and skills, in individuals and as a group.

Learning styles

Categories describing how people best process information, used to shape teaching approaches.

Logic model

A table or diagram that plans a program's resources, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact.

M

Marketing

Activities that meet customer needs and deliver value, including research, positioning, pricing, and promotion.

Material culture

The objects, materials, and spaces people create to sustain and enjoy life within their culture.

Membership program

Privileges and discounts offered in exchange for annual dues, supporting fundraising and loyalty.

Memorandum of agreement / understanding

A signed written agreement defining the relationship between two entities, such as a museum and its support group.

Mission

The governing authority's approved statement of the museum's purpose and identity.

Multiple intelligences

A theory proposing eight types of intelligence that affect how people learn.

N

Nonoperating income and expenditures

Income and spending tied to restricted funds, endowment and capital campaigns, and capital expenditures.

O

Open storage

Displaying stored collections publicly, without interpretive materials.

Operating income and expenditures

Income and spending for day-to-day operations in a fiscal year, excluding capital costs.

Organizational capacity

The ability to use resources effectively to fulfill the mission while upholding the organization's values.

P

Parent organization

The larger body, such as a university or historical society, that holds fiduciary control over the museum.

Part-time staff

Staff working fewer than 35 hours per week.

Pedagogy

The method and practice of teaching.

Planning

Creating policy and written plans, based on an assessment of the current position and a clear vision.

Professional practices

Methods generally accepted in the field as reliable for achieving a desired result.

Public trust

The duty to serve the public interest above individual or institutional interests.

Purpose

The museum's broad guiding principle, as stated in its governing documents.

S

Social media

Online platforms where users form communities and share content.

Special events

Concerts, festivals, or seasonal programs.

Special exhibitions

Temporary exhibitions, usually short-term.

Staff

Unless noted otherwise, all full- and part-time staff, paid or unpaid.

Stakeholders

People who influence the institution or are affected by it.

Standard

A generally accepted level of attainment that all museums are expected to reach.

Stereotype

An inaccurate generalization about a person or group based on limited information.

Strategic plan

A comprehensive plan setting the institution's direction and priorities, sometimes divided into a multi-year plan and an operational plan.

Sustainability

Operating in a way that meets current needs without reducing future resources or opportunities.

T

Tours

Guided, self-guided, audio, or school tours of exhibitions, grounds, buildings, or surroundings.

U

Universal design

Designing products and environments to be usable by all people, as far as possible, without adaptation.

V

Values

The core beliefs that guide an organization's goals and decisions.

Vision statement

An aspirational declaration of the museum's intended future.

Visitor experience

Everything from the decision to visit through onsite and post-visit interactions.

Visitor motivation

The reasons someone visits, shaped by their expectations and needs.

Visitor services

Comfort and convenience facilities, such as restrooms, seating, signage, and WiFi.

Visitor studies

Using data and research to understand and improve the visitor experience.

Visitor survey

Questions that gather visitor feedback, delivered in person, online, on paper, or by email.

Visitors

People who come to the museum's physical facilities to use its services.

Visual literacy

The ability to observe, interpret, and make meaning from images.

Visual thinking strategies

A teaching method that uses structured discussion to engage with visual art.

Volunteer

A person who gives time and service to the museum without pay.

W

Wayfinding

How visitors work out where they are and how to reach a destination in the museum, aided by maps and signage.