ELEMENTS OF APPRAISAL

ingenuity of the museum staff. An effort was made to discover

those display techniques employed in Europe which might prove
particularly useful to other museologists. The exhibits in the
European military museums visited were evaluated as to their
over-all esthetic appearance, the manner in which particular objects
were displayed, the utilization of space available for exhibition,
and the considerations

extended to the viewer, insofar

as they

might be discovered through casual observation. The condition

and preservation of individual specimens are also of particular
interest, and the type of expert services which are performed by
individual museums, such as the restoration of colors, prints, and
paintings, was duly catalogued.
Museum Programs and Public Services.
In part, these vital
areas of activity are related to museum philosophy and capa
bilities. The objectives of some European military museums are
quite limited or focused and the staff is correspondingly small.
Other museums plan and execute a broad range of activities and
services for the public with a correspondingly larger staff. These
latter institutions are normally in much sounder financial con
dition than those which are considerably limited in what they can
do. Regardless of the size and scope of any particular museum,
there are a number of services every museum is expected to provide
the public. However, the extent to which these are furnished also
relates principally to the factors

of philosophy and staff com

petence.
It is axiomatic that the
Management and Organization.
quality of administration determines the ultimate efficacy of an
regardless of the resources at its disposal. In closely
studying European military museums of considerable experience,
organization,

there was the natural inclination to search for the ultimate model
of administration, but this model was not found. However, an

administrative analysis of these museums required that answers

be sought to several basic questions. These are: Does the organiza

tional structure appear to be a logical one? What policy-making

body exists, what authority does it exercise, and what policy and
administrative discretion is accorded to the chief executive officer?
Are the lines of control clear from the museum director through the
department heads to rank-and-file employees? Is there evidence
of coordination among the various divisions or departments of the