Towards a Best Practise of Volunteer Use Within Archaeological Open-air Museums: an Overview with Recommendations for Future Sustainability and Growth

For many archaeological open-air museums (AOAMs), volunteers are an essential and highly visible component of an effective institution. Volunteers bring museums to life with meaningful interpretive contacts, and offer institutions the opportunity to broaden their mission and complete tasks that may not otherwise be possible. Current trends in heritage institutions predict ever-shrinking budgets, and with extra demands on staff, it is likely that museums will depend more and more on volunteers. Indeed, many museums already depend on them just to keep the lights on, while others are completely staffed by volunteers. As such, volunteers are essential for the long-term sustainability of these organisations. The goal of this study is to report how volunteers are currently used within archaeological open-air museums, and to continue the discussion with regard to best practises for volunteer management.