Smithsonian National Postal Museum - Where We Are Headed

Wilson Hulme, Curator of Philately

Royal Philatelic Society, London, January 29, 2004

Visitorship:

400,000 - 450,000 per year (walk-in)
600,000 - 700,000 per year (online)

Core Processes:

Philately
Postal History
Library
Education

Home of the Nation's Postage Stamp Collection

The Objective:

" I want philatelists to be proud of the museum"
Allen Kane, August 2002

We have focused on a key question:
How do we better meet the needs of collectors?

As a group, collectors have some "common" needs and some that are "different"

"Common" needs (?)
Delight in seeing "rarities"
Enjoyment of learning

" Different" needs (?)
The items they collect
The degree to which they specialize
The time they spend on the hobby

My purpose in mentioning this is to recognize that "one size" does not fit all.

Collectors do not have identical needs, but we did hear some recurring themes

"Entertain me."	"Get rid of the negatives."
"Where are the rarities?" " Teach me." " Help me with my questions." " Provide one-stop shopping for researchers." " Improve the newsletter." " Help facilitate contacts with other collectors, especially those with similar interests."	"Items go into a museum and are never seen again (e.g. NYPL, Franklin Institute)." " It is embarrassing that most average collectors of US stamps have a better collection than NPM exhibits." " Items have not received proper care." " I can't visit the museum regularly. The material should be published or put on line."

We developed a strategy and identified key projects

Shape the Content of the Collection	Improve Accessibility to Philatelic Materials	Build Relationships with the Philatelic Community
World-class collection of U.S. and Confederate States philatelic material worthy of its title "the Nation's postage stamp collection" Library rich in original documents, letters and rare publications Selected international stamps and covers	Access the Inaccessible Blockbuster exhibits that will delight visitors and encourage new people to take up the hobby Upgrade NPM's philatelic galleries Access to previously inaccessible materials Outreach programs "One-stop shopping" for the philatelic researcher	Close liaison with leading philatelic organizations Recognize outstanding contributions to the hobby - Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Awards Council of Philatelists

When discussing exhibits we must consider both content and gallery design...

Current NPM Galleries

Main
Rarities
Ducks
Pull-out frames

Content-wise we have identified exhibits for the main and rarities galleries through the year 2006

Improve Accessibility to Philatelic Materials

Blockbuster exhibits that will delight visitors and encourage new people to take up the hobby
Upgrade NPM's philatelic galleries
Access to previously inaccessible materials
Outreach programs
" One-stop shopping" for the philatelic researcher
"The 1847's: America's First Stamps" - 2003
" The Queen's Own: Stamps That Changed the World" - 2004
Postmaster General's Collection - 2005
Jefferys Collection (Franklin Institute) and other previously inaccessible collections
Rarities from NPM's own collection
Selected private collections

Two Major Themes of the Exhibit

Rare materials that tell the story of Great Britain's revolutionary postal reforms of 1839 - 1841

Roland Hill and stamp reform
Treasury competition and winners
Penny Black and Twopenny Blue development
Rainbow color trials and obliteration experiments
Mulready envelopes and caricatures
Embossed envelopes

Philatelic treasures from the 1840's to the 1920's

We are focusing on the content of the other galleries as well

Improve Accessibility to Philatelic Materials

Blockbuster exhibits that will delight visitors and encourage new people to take up the hobby
Upgrade NPM's philatelic galleries
Access to previously inaccessible materials
Outreach programs
" One-stop shopping" for the philatelic researcher
"The Duck gallery will continue rotations through 2006. Future plans are under development.
Improve the content of the pull-out frames

Gallery Design

Gallery redesign

Improve Accessibility to Philatelic Materials

Blockbuster exhibits that will delight visitors and encourage new people to take up the hobby
Upgrade NPM's philatelic galleries
Access to previously inaccessible materials
Outreach programs
" One-stop shopping" for the philatelic researcher
Long range vision of NPM's philatelic galleries
Long range vision for NPM's non-philatelic galleries
Online access to the National Philatelic Collection (Arago)

Our revised web site has quadrupled on-line visitors, with significant enhancements yet to come…

Ford Education Center

The Ford Education Center will allow Museum visitors access to thousands of objects entered in a database called The Museum System (TMS). TMS will be available through Arago using a kiosk based system for Museum visitors and to remote visitors via the internet

Ford Education Center

Users of Arago will have access via search capability to:

Images of objects in NPM's collection
Objects from current and prior exhibits
Curatorial interpretation of the objects
Object provenance (where appropriate)
Media assets such as audio and video

Hawaiian Missionaries and the Grinnells The kiosk system launched in November, 2003, and the internet based system will be available in 2004. The scope and content of these systems will be developed and expanded from the launch date to 2013.