Partnership for Missouri Heritage

Cultural Inventory Results

January 2011

Submitted by Professor Lilliard Richardson of the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, Columbia

And the Institute of Public Policy at the University of Missouri With special thank to: Shannon Montanez, Megan Carroll, Biserka Ivanovic & Elizabeth Pafford

Partnership for Missouri Heritage

Cultural Inventory Results

In September of 2010 postcard invitations were sent out to 495 Missouri cultural heritage institutions asking for participation in an online cultural inventory survey (See appendix A for the questionnaire). Non-responsive institutions received follow-up phone calls and/or email messages. In early November, paper questionnaires were mailed to institutions who had not responded after the first round of follow-up. As of January 20, 2011, there were 180 unduplicated valid surveys returned. The results below reflect the information generated from the 180 submissions represented in this sample. (See Appendix B).

Describing the Institutions

General Description Frequency Archives 167 Art Museum 137 Children's Museum 168 City or County Museum 140 Historic House/Site 116 Historical/Genealogical Society 134 History Museum 95 Library/Special Collections 155 Natural History Museum 134 Science/Technology Center 168 Other 173

Specific Institution Description Frequency Archives 22 Art Museum 4 Children's Museum 1 City or County Museum 9 Historic House/Site 29 Historical/Genealogical Society 28 History Museum 31 Library/Special Collections 8 Natural History Museum 0 Science/Technology Center 2 Other 9

Governance Number College, university or other academic entity 16 Federal 4 Local (County, municipal or other) 24 Non-profit, non-governmental organization or foundation 113 Private/business/For profit 3 State 14

Describing the Collections

Types of Collections (Multiple Responses)

Archaeological Specimens Archival or library special collections Arms and weaponry Art objects/paintings/sculptures Ceramics and glass Digital material/electronic records collections Ethnographic collections (such as Native … Furniture/wood collections Living and/or Natural Science Collections Moving Image (Film)/Recorded Sound … Musical instruments Natural History collections Photographic Collections Science/Technology/Industrial/Farming … Textiles and costumes Other historic objects

0 50 100 150

Collection as Largest Percentage

0 10 20 30 40 50

Collections That Have Documents/Records 2%

10%

21% All Nearly all About half

Some

None 20% 44%

Collections On Exibit

8% 6%

All 32% Nearly all About half 39% Some None

13%

Separate Buildings For Exibits And Storage

31%

Yes No 66%

Off Site Storage

29%

Yes No

68%

Environmental Control and Protection

Exhibit Areas Almost All Some None Temperature Control 58% 56% 11% Temperature Monitoring 51% 23% 20%

Humidity Control 28% 34% 29% Humidity Monitoring 31% 24% 38%

Lighting Control 53% 32% 9% Lighting Monitoring 37% 21% 18%

Security System 53% 15% 26%

Fire Suppression 34% 12% 49%

Storage Areas Almost All Some None Temperature Control 47% 26% 18% Temperature Monitoring 40% 23% 28%

Humidity Control 27% 28% 35% Humidity Monitoring 30% 21% 42%

Lighting Control 48% 27% 16% Lighting Monitoring 34% 18% 40%

Security System 43% 17% 33%

Fire Suppression 33% 8% 52%

Planning

Written Emergency Plan Staff Trained to Carry Out The Plan

31% 11% Yes Yes Not sure Not sure 56% No No 9% 71%

Have a Preservation Plan Copies of Vital Records Kept Off Site

17%

34% Yes Yes 12% Not sure Not sure 48% No No 62%

*Note that not all charts equal 100%. The deficit is the percent of respondents who did not answer the question.

Resources

Grant Activity by Institutions Number Number of institutions that have APPLIED for but did not receive the grant 15 Number of Institutions that have NOT APPLIED for grant or are NOT AWARE of grant activity 106 Number of institutions that RECEIVED a grant 49

Grant Types in Past 5 Years Application Awards (No Award) Conservation Assessment Program (through Heritage Preservation) 3 13 Museum Assessment Program (through American Association of 2 7 Museums) Conservation Project Support (through Institute for Museum and 6 5 Library Services) Historical Records Grant Program [Missouri Historical Records 7 11 Advisory Board (MHRAB)] National Historical and Publications Records Commission 2 2 (NHPRC) Local Records Preservation Program (LRPG) 2 4 Missouri Humanities Council 8 19 American Association for State and Local History 2 2 LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act), MDH (Missouri 2 14 Digital Heritage), or other Missouri State Library grants Other 3 15

Months Facility is Open

Months Open 1 0 2 0 3 1

4 2

5 6 6 8 7 8 8 5 9 5 10 10 11 3 12 118

Annual Operating Budget

More than $500,00 22

$150,001-$500,000 27

$75,001-$150,000 15

$25,001-$75,000 17

$10,001 - $25,000 32

Under $10,000 59

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Staff

61 Institutions have volunteer staff only

76 Institutions have no full-time paid staff

Appendix A: Inventory Tool

Thank you for taking time to participate in this statewide survey conducted by the Partnership for Missouri Heritage. This survey is a joint project of the Missouri State Museum, the Missouri State Archives, the Missouri State Library, the State Historical Society of Missouri, the Western Historical Manuscript Collections, the Missouri History Museum, and the Missouri Association for Museums and Archives.

The goal of this survey is two-fold. First, the survey will paint a picture of existing heritage collections in the state of Missouri. Currently, there is no comprehensive statewide survey for institutions with heritage collections and this project seeks to build a statewide database of Missouri collections. Second, this survey will show how institutions can work together to preserve Missouri heritage. By reviewing the information collected in this survey, preservation workshops will be developed to address the needs of collection institutions.

This survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. It will ask you to describe your institution, the collections your institution holds, the environmental control and protection capabilities of your facilities, disaster plans and institutional resources as well as some basic contact information. Estimates and answers of “Not Sure” are fine. We will keep your individual responses confidential; only the aggregate data will be reported.

Funding for this survey was provided by a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (www.imls.gov). Again, thank you for your commitment to Missouri heritage preservation. If you have any questions about this project, please contact Linda Endersby at [email protected] or representatives from any of the partner organizations listed below.

Sincerely,

The Partnership for Missouri Heritage

Linda Endersby, Missouri State Museum Shelly Croteau, Missouri State Archives Laura Wilson, State Historical Society of Missouri Margaret Conroy, Missouri State Library David Moore, Western Historical Manuscript Collection Chris Gordon, Missouri History Museum Greg Olson, Missouri Association for Museums and Archives Alana Inman, Missouri Historical Records and Advisory Board

Cultural Inventory Survey

Describing Your Institution 1. Which of the following most closely describes your institution?

Check all that Of the options apply selected, which one most describes your organization? Please select one. a. History Museum b. Historic House/Site c. Historical/Genealogical Society d. Natural History Museum e. Art Museum f. City or County Museum g. Library/Special Collections h. Archives i. Science/Technology Center j. Children’s Museum k. Other (specify)

2. Which of the following most closely describes your institution’s governance or governing structure? (Choose one) a. College, university or other academic entity b. Non-profit, non-governmental organization or foundation c. Private/business/For profit d. Federal e. State f. Local (County, municipal or other)

Describing Your Collections

3. Which of the following collection types does your institution hold?

Check all Which one that apply makes up the largest percent of your collection? Please select one. a. Archaeological Specimens b. Art objects/paintings/sculptures c. Arms and weaponry d. Ceramics and glass e. Moving Image (Film)/Recorded Sound collections f. Archival or library special collections g. Furniture/wood collections h. Ethnographic collections (such as Native American) i. Natural History collections j. Digital material/electronic records collections k. Musical instruments l. Photographic Collections m. Science/Technology/Industrial/Farming materials n. Textiles and costumes o. Living and/or Natural Science Collections p. Other historic objects (please specify)

4. How much of your collection do you have documents/records for? a. All b. Nearly all c. About half d. Some e. None

5. How much of your collection is on exhibit?

a. All b. Nearly all c. About half d. Some e. None

6. Does your institution have separate buildings for exhibits and storage? a. Yes b. No

7. Does your institution have off-site storage? a. Yes b. No

Describing Environmental Control and Protection

8. Does your facility have the ability to control TEMPERATURE in …