Best Practices for Managing Federal Museum Collections

Section B. - Provide Good Customer Service

B-1 Know the history and missions of the agencies responsible for Federal museum collections

Congress has determined certain classes of assets to be nationally significant regardless of agency mission. All agencies must account for such assets. Agencies have heritage assets as a result of their compliance with a suite of environmental and cultural resource protection laws and regulations. For example, heritage assets such as archeological collections are not pertinent to the mission of the Department of Defense (defending the country), but they are extremely significant to government-wide heritage preservation policies and mandates promulgated in laws, regulations, and executive orders.

Each Federal Agency presents a mission statement on its website. The First Gov website provides links to all US Federal Agencies.
http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml

Some Federal property acquires historical significance through association with significant events and individuals. Such property may become part of a museum collection. These links illustrate the importance of preserving agency history.

US Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/research/

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
History
http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/history/historymain.htm

US Navy
Naval Historical Center
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/nhcorg8.htm

National Institute of Health (NIH)
History of the National Institutes of Health
http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/history/index.html

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Agency History
http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/agency_history.html

National Park Service (NPS)
Agency History
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/

US Army
US Army Military History Institute
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usamhi/

US Coast Guard
About the US Coast Guard Museum
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/museum/musinfox.html

US Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps History and Museums
http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Home_Page.htm