Collective Wisdom: Notes from the Field v1.0
This summer I’m very excited to be one of eighteen professionals from across the library, archives and museum (LAM) sectors coalescing to form a cohort to analyze opportunities for cross-sector collaboration on professional development and continuing education initiatives. The Collective Wisdom: LAM Conference Exchange, which is sponsored by the Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries and Museums, is pulling the cohort together in an attempt to break down barriers and support connections across LAMs.
Our goal over the summer, through several in-person gatherings at sector conferences and online working meetings, is to help strengthen sustainable continuing education and professional development programs that will transform the workforce in ways that lead to measurable impact on communities. A daunting, but important goal!
The cohort will gather three times over the summer to explore professional conferences from various perspectives. The first gathering happened just a few weeks ago at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. I leave tomorrow morning for the next cohort meetup, which will take place in Orlando, FL, at the American Libraries Association Conference (ALA). And finally, the cohort will assemble one last time in August at Archives*Records (SAA) in Atlanta, GA.
Reflections on AAM
Having worked in museums for nearly ten years, I’d attended AAM several times before and was familiar/comfortable with the conference scale and format. What’s great about experiencing a familiar conference with a group of first-time attendees — specifically first-timers from outside the museum sector — is that I had a chance to take AAM in through their fresh perspectives.
It was great to hear such wonderful insights from this group of extremely smart and thoughtful colleagues. Sometimes, as much as we try to fight insularity and museum-centric tunnel vision, we get stuck in our own worlds. It’s often awakening to expose ourselves to new ways of perceiving things from outside perspectives. This was my one big takeaway from my cohort experience at AAM.
Some notes coming out of cohort discussions:
- While AAM is the quintessential and largest-scale conference within the museum sector, it is dwarfed in size by both ALA and SAA. Between 5,000 and 6,000 museum professionals attended this years AAM conference, compared with approximately 25,000 anticipated to attend ALA this week. I was very surprised with the difference in scale.
- Many of my library and archives colleagues were surprised with the high cost-of-entry and participation for the conference registration and extra ticketed special events. Regular-level registration for AAM was $675, while the same level of registration is $385 and $579 at ALA and SAA, respectively. The higher registration cost, combined with more special ticketed events and limited travel funds, may be a contributing factor to lower attendance numbers when compared to similar conferences in the library and archives sector.
- Museum professionals are talking about many of the same things as library and archives professionals. The themes of diversity and inclusion were prominent at AAM, and it’s great to see that they will also be prevalent at ALA and SAA. Sustainability and progressive funding models are also a cross-sector narratives. As are disaster and emergency preparedness. And of course digital/emerging technologies. I think we may have the nuggets of some cohort work with these persistent themes.
In addition to the discussions with my new LAM cohort colleagues, it was great to be at AAM with a strong Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh contingent. In all, CMP sent a total of 16 staff members who, upon our return, put together an all-staff “share-out” session where we debriefed about sessions we enjoyed, important threads emerging from the conference, and issues we should have on our organizational radar.
Looking Forward to ALA
I leave tomorrow morning for Orlando and the 2016 ALA Annual. I’m honestly a bit intimidated by the sheer scale of the conference, but I’m looking forward to experiencing ALA through the lens of a museum professional. “A stranger in a strange land,” as my cohort colleague Ken Bicknell of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Library & Archive says. I only hope I will be able to provide as many fresh perspectives and unique insights about ALA, as my cohort colleagues have provided about AAM.
For those interested and so inclined, the cohort will continue to live-Tweet our experience at #LAMcw.
Originally published at studio.carnegiemuseums.org.
