Things Great and Small

John E. Simmons (BA, Systematics & Ecology; MA, Museum Studies) has worked in museums for more than 50 years. He began his career as a zoo keeper before becoming collections manager at the California Academy of Sciences and later at the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas, where he also served as Director of the Museum Studies Program until 2007. He is the recipient of the Superior Voluntary Service Award from the American Association of Museums (2001), the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Graduate Students from the University of Kansas (2005), the Carolyn L. Rose Award for Outstanding Commitment to Natural History Collections and Management from the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (2011), the Dudley-Wilkinson Award of Distinction from the Registrars Committee of the American Alliance of Museums (2016), and the Spiritus Award for Excellence in Service and Management of Herpetological and Ichthyological Collections from American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (2019). John has published more than 150 papers and several books, including Cuidado, Manejo y Conservación de las Colecciones Biológicas (2005, with Yaneth Munoz-Saba), Fluid Preservation: A Comprehensive Reference (2014), Foundations of Museum Studies: Evolving Systems of Knowledge (2014, with Kiersten Latham), Herpetological Collecting and Collections Management (3rd edition, 2015), Museums: A History (2016), Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies (2nd edition, 2017), the chapter on "Collections Management: History, Theory, and Practice" in The International Handbook of Museum Studies (2015), Best Practices in the Preservation and Management of Fluid-Preserved Biological Collections (with Dirk Neumann, Julian Carter, and Oliver Crimmen), and he edited the 6th edition of Museum Registration Methods in 2020 (with Toni Kiser). John’s research interests include the conservation of natural history and anatomical specimens, the history of museums, and the development of sustainable collections management practices. John currently runs Museologica museum consulting and teaches museology workshops and university classes.

Simmons takes a complicated subject matter and presents it in an approachable and understandable manner for museums of all sizes. Things Great and Small spells out the intricacies of museum policies writing in a thorough way, proving useful to the novice museum professional as well as the weathered museum veteran and everyone in between. Whether it is a person’s first museum position or their 30th year in the field, Simmons’ work is a must-have for all museum professionals.