• AEOM - Association of European Open-Air Museums
• AIMA - International Association of Agricultural Museums
• AMOI - Association of Museums of the Indian Ocean
• CAM - Commonwealth Association of Museums
• IACM - International Association of Custom Museums
• IATM - International Association of Transport and Communications Museums
• ICAM - International Confederation of Architectural Museums

• ICMM - International Congress of Maritime Museums
• MAC - Museums Association of the Caribbean
• MINOM - International Movement for a New Museology
• PIMA - Pacific Islands Museums Association
• SADCAMM - Southern Africa Development Community Association of Museums and Monuments
• SIBMAS - International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts

The Association of European Open-Air Museums is composed of directors of European Open-Air Museums. In some cases, depending on its specific structure, a museum may also be represented by a senior staff member. The association's objectives are the exchange of scholarly, technical, practical and organisational experience in relation to open-air museums and the promotion of their activities. For this purpose, the association organises bi-annual conferences during which members may participate in excursions and in working sessions dedicated to specific themes. These working sessions aim at improving museological standards. Conference reports are published on a regular basis.

Contact:

• Michael Dauskardt
• Miklós Cseri

Composed of professionals from agricultural museums all over the world, AIMA promotes scientific research and stimulates collaboration among museum professionals and agricultural museums. Every three years, AIMA organises an international congress during which specific themes are presented and discussed. In the future, AIMA will focus its attention on developing countries. Agricultural museums must encourage development while at the same time remain critical of the deviations of intensive agriculture which destroy the environment and, above all, harm poorer populations.

Contact:

• Vitezslav Koukal
• Radek Hasalík

AMOI is an association of curators, technicians, specialists and other museum professionals from the south-west region of the Indian Ocean (i.e. Comores, Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles and the island of Réunion). AMOI's main objective is to create a dynamic museum community, taking into account the specificity of each country's museums without losing sight of the region's common identity. The association seeks out human and financial resources in order to organise common activities such as training programmes, exhibitions and research projects.

Contact:

• Sidi Ainouddine

CAM is a professional association affiliated with and supported by The Commonwealth Foundation in London. The objectives of CAM include maintaining and strengthening links between museums and museum professionals both within the Commonwealth and internationally. To reach this goal, the association works to promote high standards of museum practice and to improve the status of the museum within the community. CAM stresses the importance of professional training and development (including a Distance Learning Programme in basic museum studies), stimulates professional dialogue, and fosters collaboration among CAM, ICOM, ICCROM-PREMA and other international organisations. A General Assembly and a Commonwealth-wide project take place every three years, and during the triennial period smaller programmes are organised. Membership is open to institutions, associations and individuals from the Commonwealth as well as to associates from outside the Commonwealth.

Contact:

• E. N. Arinze
• Lois Irvine

The aims of IACM are: to recognise and promote benefits accruing from the collection, preservation, documentation and display of customs artefacts; to establish, maintain and promote a network of custom museums; to establish links with appropriate organisations; to improve professional standards and encourage research related to its aims.

Contact:

• Paddy Ryan
• Jón Agúst Eggertsson

The IATM is an international forum for museum professionals working in transport and communications museums. It covers aviation, road transport, rail transport, maritime transport, postal services, telecommunications and philately. The association publishes a newsletter twice a year as well as a yearbook. The yearbook is available free of charge to those members who pay the IATM annual subscription. IATM organises an annual conference during which subjects of major interest and importance are presented and discussed. Subjects include the role of transport and communications museums today, the housing and conservation of some of the largest and the smallest objects held by museums, the ethics involved in the restoration and operation of vehicles, the documentation and conservation of philatelic collections, the interpretation and presentation of collections, the use of new technology and fund-raising.

Contact:

• Andreas Dreyer
• Lars Olov Karlsson

ICAM's main objective is to provide a forum for professionals active in the field of preserving and exhibiting architectural records. ICAM provides members with the opportunity to exchange information on exhibitions, publications and architecture. It organises a congress once every two or three years and publishes the proceedings of these congresses. Twice a year, it publishes a newsletter, ICAM News. It also regularly updates the ICAM Register, a listing that provides crucial information on the collections of all member institutions.

Contact:

• Michael Snodin
• Mariet J. H. Willinge

ICMM is an international professional association of maritime museums, organisations and individuals sharing maritime interests - a guild of colleagues and friends dedicated to maintaining world-wide professional contacts, providing a forum for the free exchange of ideas, improving the quality and standards of maritime preservation and nautical archaeology, and fostering a network of friendship and mutual support.

Contact:

• Klas Helmerson
• Stuart Parnes

MAC works to stengthen links among Caribbean museums, their staff and associates, so that they may foster and promote an appreciation and understanding of their common heritage through education and the development of professional standards of practice. The association serves as a forum for the exchange of information and ideas through meetings, publications and museum exchanges. MAC's main objectives are: to develop common policies relative to the role of museums and duties of curatorial staff, to act as an advisory board for governments and institutions regarding museum development and to develop relationships with international and other regional museums-related organisations. It also supports the cultural policy and programmes of the Regional Cultural Committee of CARICOM (Caribbean Community).

Contact:

• Larry Armony
• Cyril Saltibus

MINOM is composed of professionals working in community museums, ecomuseums, museology institutes, groups specialised in the organisation of cultural activities, management and cultural mediation, and cultural institutions involved in their local communities. MINOM's objectives are to make museologists and cultural institutions aware of today's major social problems, to organise activities relating to cultural property and to participate as a mediator in museological debates within their communities. MINOM organises meetings and regional exchanges.

Contact:

• Raul Mendez Lugo
• Pierre Mayrand

PIMA is a regional, multilingual, non-profit organisation that assists Pacific museums, cultural centres and peoples to preserve their heritage. It develops community participation in heritage management, brings together museums and cultural centres in the region to develop their capacity to identify, research, manage, interpret and nurture cultural and natural heritage. PIMA advocates the development of regional cultural resource management policies and practices, facilitates training and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and skills. It provides and encourages regional and global linkages with organisations supporting Pacific Islands heritage preservation.

Contact:

• Ms. Lata Yaqona

SADCAMM was created to establish, maintain and strengthen relations among those concerned with the study, practice, preservation, protection and promotion of national heritage in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries. Since its inception in 1988, SADCAMM has brought together heritage management experts from Southern Africa through its Executive Committee meetings and general conferences. These groups of experts have developed regional programmes for the training of personnel, exhibitions, conservation and restoration. SADCAMM keeps its members informed about programmes and developments in the heritage management field through its newsletter SADCAMM News.

Contact:

• Francis B. Musonda
• Mundumuko Sinvula

SIBMAS was founded in 1954 as a section of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and became an autonomous association in 1976. SIBMAS has two membership categories: individual members working in the field of documentation of the performing arts, and institutions such as libraries, universities and museums specialising in theatre, dance, mime and puppetry. In order to improve the skills and knowledge of its members, SIBMAS works to promote research in the performing arts field and to establish international contacts among specialised libraries, museums and documentation centres. The association also aims at facilitating international exchanges. Every two years, SIBMAS organises an international congress. Its members have the opportunity to collaborate in various projects, such as the publication of the SIBMAS International Directory of Performing Arts Collections, the International Bibliography of Theatre (IBDT) and the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre.

Contact:

• Claudia Balk
• Maria Teresa Iovinelli