Evaluation in Action: Practical Tools for Everyday Museum Work

ID: WMA2026_574

Track:

Evaluation helps museums strengthen internal practices and remain responsive to their communities. This session introduces practical evaluation approaches that can be integrated into everyday museum work. In the first half, professional evaluators and museum staff share foundational concepts and tools they use in their own roles. The second half is an open forum where participants can ask questions, discuss current projects, and explore strategies for implementing evaluation in their own institutions.

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: WMA historically has had few evaluation sessions. We will actively engage attendees with evaluation tools and strategies that they can use in different museum roles.

Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify solutions to current barriers to using evaluation at their museum.
2. Participants will take away 1-2 practical evaluation tools/processes that they can implement at their museums.
3. Participants will be invited to continue the learning after the annual meeting through an email list and information/tool sharing, offering the opportunity to connect with the presenters and other participants as an informal community of practice focused on evaluation in museums.

Engagement: As attendees enter, they will respond to two talk-back wall questions: “How does your museum currently use evaluation?” and “What’s your biggest barrier?” In the second half, we’ll revisit barriers to identify potential solutions. During presentations, we’ll incorporate rapid “try-it” activities. Between presenters, attendees will apply shared strategies to prompts or scenarios, supporting guided mini-practice, peer discussion, and opportunities to refine and troubleshoot ideas.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Development and Membership Officers Marketing & Communications (Including Social Media) Other 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: This session has scalability built in. First, the museum staff presenters represent a variety of museums and roles in them. The evaluation consultant has worked with multiple small museums. These backgrounds will provide an accurate view of what works in real-world situations. Second, audience engagement strategies will ensure discussion is focused on content applicable in participants’ own organizations.

Participants