The results and analysis of an earlier museum survey, presented in Museum U.S.A.: Highlights, are given in this document. The purpose is to present a comprehensive picture of museums in the --their numbers and locations, types and functions, facilities and finances, personnel and trustees, and activities and attendance. The survey data offers a sound base for future efforts to expand our understanding of museums and other cultural institutions and their role in American life. Data from the survey are shown in 94 graphs to illustrate the findings, which are described and analyzed in the text of this report. The data are examined according to the total number of museums and by four museum characteristics--type, budget size, governing authority, and geographic region. This may be of most immediate interest to professionals, trustees, citizens, and groups actively involved in the work or study of museums and other cultural institutions, and public and private agencies concerned with their development.

[For detailed results of this survey see, Museums USA: A Survey Report, prepared
  by the National Center for the Arts, an affiliate of Louis Harris and Associates, which
  under contract to the National Endowment for the Arts undertook the research for
  this project.]

CONTENTS
List of figures.
Foreword by Nancy Hanks.
Introduction.

Chapter 1. Museum characteristics.

Classification and comparison of museums by four characteristics - type, budget size, governing authority, region.

Chapter 2. Purposes and functions.

Museum directors' evaluations of purposes and functions of museums.
Museum directors' selection of priority purposes and functions, compared with their assessment of the priorities of museum trustees and the public, and with their assessment of the purposes and functions most successfully satisfied by their museums.

Chapter 3. Programs.

Types and freqency of educational and cultural programs offered by museums.
Increases or decreases in museum educational activities since 1966.
Staffing of programs.
Joint programs with colleges and universities.
Research and publications.

Chapter 4. Attendance, accessibility, admissions.

Size and composition of museum audiences.
Amount of time museum facilities are open to the public.
Admission policies.
Membership policies.
Efforts to increase attendance.

Chapter 5. Collections and exhibitions.

Percentage of permanent collection exhibited.
Special exhibitions.
Traveling exhibitions.
Loans of objects to storefront or community-based museums.
Increases or decreases in the exchange of objects since 1966.
Rental of objects.

Chapter 6. Trustees.

Distribution, size and composition of museum boards of trustees.
Reasons for and methods of selection of trustees.
Length and number of terms served by trustees.
Frequency of board meetings.
Working relationship between the board and the director/staff.

Chapter 7. Personnel.

Distribution of full-time, part-time and volunteer personnel by job categories.
Distribution of full-time, part-time and volunteer personnel by budget size, museum type and governing authority.
Full-time personnel: characteristics and salary levels.
Senior personnel: characteristics, work experience, education and salary levels.
Directors: characteristics, work experience, education, salary levels, functions and responsibilities.
Employee benefits and perquisites.
Levels of minority employment in professional staff positions.
Need for additional staff.
Adequacy of staff training and salaries.
Museum training programs.

Chapter 8. Facilities.

Construction of primary and secondary structures and additions to and renovations of facilities.
Ownership of buildings and space.
Adequacy of exhibition and storage areas.
Adequacy of and need for other facilities.
Rental of facilities.

Chapter 9. Finances.

Museum finances, FY 1971-72.
Income.
Operating expenditures.
Net income.
Extraordinary expenditures.
Current fund balances.
Endowments and other funds.
Financial status and income needs:
     Increase in operating costs and cutbacks in operations since
     1966.
     Distribution and adequacy of operating budgets.
     Long-term financial needs.
     Climate control, security and conservation.
     Outlook.

Index.
Appendix:
     List of the 258 tables appearing in Museums USA: A Survey Report.

The results and analysis of an earlier museum survey, presented in Museum U.S.A.: Highlights, are given in this document. The purpose is to present a comprehensive picture of museums in the --their numbers and locations, types and functions, facilities and finances, personnel and trustees, and activities and attendance. The survey data offers a sound base for future efforts to expand our understanding of museums and other cultural institutions and their role in American life.