This section showcases a series of case studies giving examples of best practice from the New Zealand museum sector.
Read case studies about:
Governance, management and planning
Case Study: An institution based on a strong sense of community involvement - TheNewDowse
How the organisation has refocused its vision and values to reflect a strong sense of community involvement and ownership. (August 2007)
Case Study: An Enterprising Organisation – The Kauri Museum
A voluntary organisation that runs as a business. How operating as such is one mechanism to sustain the museum long into the future. (August 2007)
Case Study: Getting A New Building – Geraldine Vintage Car And Machinery Museum
The museum has expanded to a new building and went through a well thought-out project plan. (August 2007)
Case Study: Getting A New Building – The Kauri Museum
The new Otamatea Boarding House in The Kauri Museum is a two-storeyed life-sized replica based on the old boarding houses of the Kaipara District (about 1910). (August 2007)
Case Study: Only wind in the tussocks – The Mackenzie Heritage Centre
The proposed Mackenzie Heritage Centre started as one individual’s dream to establish and operate a visitor experience to share the many and remarkable stories of the Mackenzie region. (October 2007)
Case Study: A project that flew – Shear Discovery Centre
Doing in-depth research and planning has paid off for the Shear Discovery Centre. The Centre traces the history and development of sheep farming in New Zealand. (November 2007)
Case study: A step towards preserving Raukawa art
This case study explores the challenges and opportunities experienced by the Raukawa Trust Board while undertaking a taonga inventory project.
Are you aware of any museum that has a good bicultural governance structure? We want to know so contact us!
Care of collections and taonga
Case study: seaside town goes digital
This case study is an interview with Roslyn Miles from Raglan Museum about getting part of their collections on the NZMuseums website.
Do you know of any organisation that has done a good job with caring for its collections and taonga? Share the story with us!
Exhibitions and other public services
The case studies below were developed by the Ministry of Education for Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom (LEOTC) providers, a Ministry of Education-funded project. LEOTC programmes are educational programmes for school classes run by a range of organisations, such as zoos, museums, historic parks, art galleries, and science centres. Click here to find out more about this programme, including application guidelines.
Case Study: Seeing it for real up-close
This case study follows the work of a year 4 and 5 class of students as they prepared for and visited a glow-worm cave site and the associated museum and education centre.
Case Study: We go to galleries
This case study explores the involvement of a new entrant/year 1 class on a visit to an art gallery. The school the class came from has established long-term relationships with the local art gallery, and a local museum.
Case Study: Sowing a seed for the future
This case study follows the visit of a year 2 and 3 class to an art gallery exhibition of work by a New Zealand artist. The visit was part of the concluding phase of a planned schoolwide focus on the arts and education outside the classroom.
Case Study: You know more after going on a visit
This case study is based on a Year 7 and 8 class visit to a museum. The visit was part of a three day camp in a town several hundred kilometres from the school.
Case Study: You’re the experts
This case study follows the work of a Year 3 and 4 class, as they prepared for and visited an art and history museum in a central New Zealand city.
Any innovative exhibition that has caught your eye? Let us know!
Customer service
Do you know of an organisation that has gone the extra mile to serve its visitors? Let others learn from them!
Relationships with Communities
Case Study: working collaboratively with the community - Motueka District Museum
Motueka District Museum’s exhibition Treasure Hunters – a look at local collections and treasures featured unique, unusual, and historical treasures from private collectors in the community. (August 2007)
Case Study: working collaboratively with the local council- Southland Museum and Art Gallery
The Burt Munro and the World’s Fastest Indian exhibition was a partnership between the museum and the Invercargill City Council, which owns the Burt Munro collection. (August 2007)
Case Study: working with other organisations - Wellington City Libraries
Wellington City Libraries encourages local cultural and artistic groups to mount promotional displays in the central and branch libraries within established guidelines. (October 2007)
Case Study: A Community Resource – Albertland and Districts Museum
Given the strength and uniqueness of their collections and archives, the museum forms an important part of the community and continually receives requests from researchers and others who are interested in the history of the district. (October 2007)
Kete Horowhenua – the stories of the district as told by its people
Kete Horowhenua is a community-built digital library of arts, cultural, and heritage resources for and about the Horowhenua district. The Horowhenua Library Trust is responsible for its ongoing development. (October 2007)