Without strong educational programming, I would suggest, the use of an historic building as an historic site may not be the best choice. Good programming, including the basic interpretive tour, school programs, and written and visual educational materials and publications, are not possible without sound in service training for staff and guides, and that training must look beyond the historic site to include the larger preservation picture into which it fits. We must also examine the formal education of site administrators. The majority of them now emerge from museum administration courses, which do not typically include curriculum offerings in historic preservation. This being the case, they are left to their own devices to perceive the relationship of historic sites to historic preservation.
Partnerships are crucial to link house museums to the broader preservation movement.
Too many house museums operate in isolation , both from each other and from preservation activities in their communities. There is no doubt that the demands of operating a house museum are enormous, but time has got to be found to get out into the community. For many smaller house museums, even partnerships with other sites linked by proximity or themes can automatically expand their programming, involvement, and diversity. And speaking of diversity , it is critical to rethink the kinds of houses that become house museums and ensure that more houses representing cultural and economic diversity are preserved and interpreted. Unless the composition of house museums is diversified, how can we hope to attract the broad audience who must in the end, embrace the ethic of preservation.