Museum Volunteers: Good Practice in the Management of Volunteers

Museum Volunteersis a practical handbook on the use of volunteers as interpreters within museums. Drawing on key examples of outstanding practice from the UK and North America, this book forms a unique resource on volunteerism. In addition to reviewing research on the changing priorities of museums , this book examines a form of volunteering that has provided benefits to all participants in an activity similar to museum interpretation-student tutoring; describes and analyzes the strengths of five exceptional volunteer programs in Canada and the USA; reports the findings of five volunteer programs set up and managed by the authors in the Science Museum, London; examines the development process of the pilot studies and the consequent establishment of a permanent volunteer program in the Science Museum, London; and discusses the mutual benefits that volunteer programs can bring to museums and volunteers.