| dc.description.abstract | The U.S. Air Force is a continuing entity in the fight for freedom across the world. It does its job in the best way it knows how, and in the process claims to celebrate heritage. The celebration of heritage does occur in some instances, but not to the extent or necessity that it should. Air Force-run museums are lacking in the funding and organization that publicly-run museums utilize to thrive in society.
The surveys submitted to both the military-run and publicly-run museums were gathered with the goal of identifying best practices for improving how museums are run. Topics within the questionnaire included funding and artifact care, as well as questions about how museums function with what staff they have. These questions directly relate to AFI 84-103, the regulations for the U.S. Air Force museum system.
The surveys returned from the military-run museums indicated that the museums are in an extreme deficit with funding. The museums are understaffed and if the museums are staffed with the appropriate number of employees, the employees are not trained in museum sciences. This causes issues with the caring for artifacts, because a lack of training in the care of artifacts can lead to artifacts being mistreated, not purposely, but mistreated nonetheless. This thesis will discuss the necessary steps for the Air Force-run museums to take in order to better themselves by learning from publicly-run museums. | en_US |
