The Medallion, Volume 47, Number 7-8, July-August 2010 Page: 12
19 p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Take the Right StEPs
New Program Guides Texas Museums and Sites to SuccessNearly 40 people gathered at the
THC's Annual Historic Preservation
Conference in April to learn how
a new program can help create
stronger museums, historic sites,
and history organizations. Three
recognized leaders in the field
discussed the value of participating
in the Standards and Excellence
Program for History Organizations
(StEPs), a new initiative offered
through the American Association for
State and Local History (AASLH).
Cherie Cook, senior program
coordinator for AASLH, began the
session by providing an overview
of StEPs (www.aaslh.org/steps),
a self-study program that assists
history organizations with assessing
their current operations using
performance indicators (basic,
good, and better) and rewarding
them with certificates for progress.
Lest museums be ashamed to
admit to their shortcomings, Cook
promised, "This entire program is
about encouragement, not judgment.
We want to encourage history
organizations to move closer to
meeting national standards."
She went on to explain that
standards have long remained an
enigma for those in the local history
field. When it comes to collections
care, for example, museums have
traditionally been told they must
provide a professional standard of
care for the objects. Cook asked the
audience, "But what does that mean
exactly? How do you know if you're
doing it?" A sea of shaking heads
and shrugging shoulders signaled
that it hasn't always been clear.
Right: Cherie Cook speaks at the popular StEPs
session at the 2010 Annual Historic Preservation
Conference. Inset: Dr. Paul Katz leads a tour of
Amarillo's Texas Pharmacy Museum.With StEPs, history
organizations now have a clearly
defined framework for recognizing,
understanding, and achieving
national standards in six key areas
of operations-mission, vision, and
governance; audience; interpretation;
stewardship of collections;
stewardship of historic structures
and landscapes; and management.
The program's workbook offers a
series of self-assessment questions,
along with three levels of specific
performance indicators, to help
organizations measure the degree
to which they are currently meeting
the standards. After identifying areas
for improvement, participants can
then choose a recommended project
to get one step closer to meeting
that standard."StEPs is really about projects,"
Cook said. "Projects can be
accomplished in increments big
or small, but even the smallest
of projects can lead to great
accomplishments."
It is this sense of accomplish-
ment that has small organizations
singing StEPs' praises. Cook
explained that many of the
participants in the program's pilot
phase were amazed at how their
organizations were finally able
to see them-
selves mov-
ing forward.
"It gave them
confidence -
and helped ;.
them real-
ize that theyI PRESERVATION ADVICE
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Texas Historical Commission. The Medallion, Volume 47, Number 7-8, July-August 2010, periodical, July 2010; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309002/m1/12/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.