Manual of Museum Planning - 3rd Edition by Barry Lord & Gail Dexter Lord & Lindsay Martin (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Manual of Museum Planning has become the definitive text for museum professionals and others who are concerned with the planning, renovation, or expansion of a public gallery or museum. This third edition features new sections on operations and implementation as well as re...

Book Synopsis

The Manual of Museum Planning has become the definitive text for museum professionals and others who are concerned with the planning, renovation, or expansion of a public gallery or museum. This third edition features new sections on operations and implementation as well as revised sections on planning for visitors, collections, and the building itself.

Review Quotes

[A] 720-page compendium specifically designed to be a comprehensive instruction manual for any group wanting to establish, upgrade, or expand their museum....Informed, informative, comprehensive, and thoroughly 'user friendly', the "Manual Of Museum Planning" will prove to be indispensable and is highly recommended addition to museum, historical society, community, and academic library reference collections.

After the first glow of razzle-dazzle, museums have to "work," and no one understands better how to see to it that a museum will work for the long run than Barry and Gail Lord. This work is a bible for museum survival.

The third edition of the Manual of Museum Planning is a welcome addition to cultural leaders around the world. Barry Lord, Gail Dexter Lord, and the team of experts from Lord Cultural Resources are the foremost global cultural thought leaders. The new edition's emphasis on sustainability is timely and will help guide cultural institutions well into the 21st century. The new edition of the Manual of Museum Planning will definitely be a permanent fixture on my desk and nightstand.


There are no short cuts to successful and sustainable museum development. The Manual of Museum Planning provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to planning museums as developed over the past 30 years by the world's leading museum planning firm. An invaluable resource now in its third updated edition, the Manual demonstrates how LORD Cultural Resources continue to learn and innovate.

This highly readable and greatly revised third edition updates the 2001 second edition, edited by G. Lord and B. Lord. As stated in the introduction, this manual has been considered a classic of museum literature for nearly 30 years. This latest edition is sure to continue that tradition. Its subtitle sums up the 21st-century changes to the volume. Authoritative, definitive, and dense, the volume offers up-to-date information and serves as the go-to resource for best practices for both beginners and seasoned museum practitioners. Of special note are the changes from earlier editions, which were divided into three parts covering people, collections, and construction. This new edition is in five parts: "Planning for People," "Planning for Collections," "Planning for Operations," "Planning for the Building," and "Implementation." Each part features several chapters, for a total of 21 chapters that are further subdivided by section. Included are extensive and descriptive figures and tables. The list of contributors reads like a Who's Who in the museum field, making the volume a very approachable essay collection. Chapters address such issues as sustainability, planning documents, facility strategies, site selection, design and construction processes, project management, and the issue of "right sizing" new facilities. Of special note is the introduction by the editors, covering what to look for in the new edition and how to use the manual, along with a discussion of the dimensions of sustainability. Summing Up: Highly recommended.

About the Author

Barry Lord and Gail DexterLord are the founders and presidents of Lord Cultural Resources, an international cultural planning firm. Lindsay Martin is a senior consultant at Lord Cultural Resources.