Nez Perce National Historical Park Museum Management Plan
National Park Service - Pacific West Region, Cultural Resources. 2005. Nez Perce National Historical Park Museum Management Plan. Museum Collection Management Plan. Seattle, WA
The Museum Management Plan for Nez Perce National Historical Park identifies a series of collections management, program, and exhibit issues facing the park, and presents a series of recommendations to address them. This plan was developed in full cooperation with the staff responsible for managing these resources at the park, and with partners from the tribe. While the museum management program has developed quickly over the past ten years, some basic work on accessions documentation is still required. However, the program is ready to take the next step in its evolution to a research center operation. With world class collections available, this is a step to be encouraged, but the movement must be holistic, and involve all elements of the combined collections. This movement would also be improved by centralized organization and professional management of park records. Strategic planning and programming are also necessary to support successful research center development. While the park currently enjoys excellent relations with the Nez Perce tribe, these could be improved by proactive recruiting, employment, and training for key positions in park management. The tribe is also keenly interested in developing closer ties with the material in the collections, and is actively encouraging the park to pursue a much more aggressive exhibit schedule. Opportunities such as the very successful Sapatq’ayn exhibit a number of years ago need to be explored. Park level policies need to be developed that will both allow and encourage closer ties between the Nez Perce people and the materials in the collections. This plan calls for a number of actions intended to assist the orderly development of the combined collections management program and lift it to the next stage. As a result, it should encourage the collections management program to achieve the potential inherent in these world class resources.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- National Park Service - Pacific West Region, Cultural Resources
- Date of Issue
- 2005-08
- Units
- HIST , NEPE
- Keywords
- Administration, Archives and Library, Collections Management, Cultural Resources, ehistory, History, History of Collections Management, Museum Management Program, Records, Sapatq'ayn: Bringing It Out To Be Viewed, Stewardship Overview