The MI Museum Census Project

The Michigan Museums Association (MMA) has spent the past several years compiling a verified list of museums in the state. MMA staff and volunteers started with an existing list compiled by the Historical Society of Michigan and Institute of Museum and Library Services, as well as other lists provided by Wikipedia, Michigan.org, and the Connecting to Collections project completed by MMA in 2012. Entries on this list were verified via the internet, and location, contact, and some organizational data was collected as best as possible. Volunteers and MMA staff verified listings and did research a county at a time.

Once all the information was verified and additional items added, entries were moved onto one of four lists: MI Museum Census, Limbo, Hybrid, and Not on List. An Umbrella Organization category was created to count separate physical entities within a single organization. Items were categorized according to the following criteria:

MI Museum Census: Facilities that center on collections of three-dimensional artifacts, items, or artwork; are open to the general public without appointment on a regular basis (including annually); are education and public-service focused (through exhibits, public programs etc.); and have personnel (staff or volunteer) that are charged with stewardship of the artifacts and have some expertise related to best-practice.

Limbo: Facilities that are planned or under construction.

Hybrid: Facilities that conduct some museum-type activity, but are primarily focused on another mission or goal. Examples of this include archives that have historic artifacts, libraries with local history rooms, historical societies that do not operate a public museum, businesses that have historical collections on site, retail operations that include an exhibit or collections display, parks that have historic buildings that are not open to the public without appointment or when open are used primarily for non-educational purposes, galleries that do not have a permanent collection, nature centers, zoos, arboretums, planetariums, and private collections.

Not on List: Facilities that are closed as well as entries from the original list (mostly from the Connecting to Connections list, which included all libraries and archives in Michigan as well as museums) that do not have museum-like activities.

Umbrella Organizations: Organizations with multiple facilities are considered Umbrella Organizations. Each facility that appeared to us to meet the criteria individually is listed separately. Multiple facilities located together are listed under the primary facility and the others are attached in the record. 

We expect there to be some initial movement of entries between lists. Multiple different people did the initial county-level research, so there are some inconsistencies in the data collection. Much of the research was internet-based so facilities without a robust or accurate presence online may be mis-categorized. Some facilities on the hybrid list likely belong on the MI Museum Census list, and vice versa.

The MI Museum Census is intended to be an internal tool for use by MMA. We will use it to evaluate the effectiveness of our engagement with the Michigan museums community, to identify future partners, to assess the needs of the Michigan museum community, and to articulate the value of and contributions by Michigan museums to the communities they serve.

The MI Museum Census is not intended to be a public document used for promotion or in any other way. We are sharing the data with our members to help verify the contents, and to help them better understand the broader makeup of the Michigan museum community. Use for any other purpose is prohibited.

The census document is linked below. Museums are listed on the census sorted alphabetically, and by county. To provide updates or corrections, please email director@michiganmuseums.org. 

MI Museum Census Document