Are your collections up for grabs?  Does the spouse of one of your trustees have too much to say about developing the exhibition schedule?  How much is too much public participation?  Where does the curator’s authority begin and end?

Ethical questions about museum activities are legion, yet they are usually only discussed when they become headlines in newspapers.  Museum staff respond to such problems under pressure, often unable to take the time required to think through the sensitive and complex issues involved.

Grounded in a series of case studies, A Practical Guide to Museum Ethics confronts the range of ethical dilemmas museums face and explores attempts to resolve them.

Sally Yerkovich is an internationally known speaker and museum leader. She is director of the Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University and adjunct professor in the Museum Professions Program at Seton Hall as well as in the Museum Anthropology Program at Columbia University. She also teaches in the Bank Street Graduate School’s Leadership in Museum Education Program. A member of the Ethics Committee for the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the only international organization representing museums and museum professionals, she worked extensively with museums in Central and Eastern Europe as President of the Fund for Arts and Culture. Her work, which draws upon her experience in museums and nonprofit cultural organizations, is increasingly engaged with how museums will face the ethical challenges of the future.