[Nhcoll-l] Strategic plan/vision for the collection community

[Ellen Paul]

I would like to add a different perspective. I have seen and been 
involved in many strategic planning exercises and not a few of them were 
in the context of natural history, conservation biology, taxon-specific 
fields. I noticed certain commonalities. Well, many, but a couple that I 
want to highlight here.

First, they tended to end up as re-statements or re-commitments to the 
same overall goals. That is not a bad thing. It is good to re-examine 
your goals. What I am saying is that you shouldn't assume that a 
document from 1990 or 2000 is outdated. It is actually not surprising 
that the goals don't change or change much. It isn't surprising that 
basic values don't change much.

What changes is the way that goals are reached. That's the strategy. It 
changes as new methods and challenges arise.

Second, they are general in nature and may not be very informative for a 
particular institution although they can suggest areas of specialization 
that may be a good match for the strengths of a particular institution. 
A small institution with a small budget and small facility isn't going 
to aim for a collection representative of an entire continent, much less 
the entire world, or all taxa. But a small institution can be invaluable 
with a regional focus or have a taxonomic focus. I guess that's obvious 
but the reality doesn't track the obvious.

The solution there might be for the museum community to collectively 
identify gaps and determine which museums are best suited to work on 
those areas. That's about the most naive, unrealistic statement I've 
ever made. But the original question was phrased in terms of the 
community, so I answered it in that context.

Third, these exercises rarely result in significant change in what is 
done or the way things are done, overall and especially not day-to-day.

Your experiences may differ. I hope they do but I doubt they have.

Ellen

Ellen Paul
Executive Director
The Ornithological Council
Email:ellen.paul at verizon.net
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds"
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