Standards & Guidelines
The IMA promotes excellence and best practice, encouraging the implementation of professional standards within the museum sector.
We aim to share knowledge around current good practice and identify areas for development through our advocacy, informed by our programme of events.
Individual projects demonstrating best practice are showcased at our forums and conferences and published in our journal Museum Ireland.
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International Standards and Guidelines
International standards and guidelines developed by ICOM, the International Council of Museums, provides best practices to museum professionals globally. These are shaped and proposed by the different ICOM Committees and approved by the ICOM Executive Board at AGM.
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Irish Standards and Guidelines
Accreditation schemes are operated by the Heritage Council of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Museums Council (NIMC), setting nationally agreed standards for museums across Ireland.
Both of these schemes are aimed at museums of all sizes: from volunteer-led to national institutions.
The Heritage Council - Museums Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI)
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Designated museums
Designated local Museums are appointed by the Director of the National Museum of Ireland, with Ministerial consent, under Section 68 (2) of the National Cultural Institutions Act, 1997. This approves them as appropriate places for the curatorial care of State owned archaeological objects that are predominately of local rather than national interest.
Examples of specific museum policies can be found on the websites of most of the national cultural institutions and main museums.
