The New General Facility Report

Abstract

The General Facility Report is an oft-used and important document in the museum field. Institutions across the country and across the planet use it primarily to conduct loans between museums. Originally drafted in 1988, the form has seen several revisions over thirty years. In 2019, Collections Stewardship of the American Alliance of Museums formed a committee to revise the form once more. Several employees from various museums with familiarity with the form and its use gathered to edit the GFR. Those edits were presented to AAM and at a conference to solicit feedback, before making the form available to the public. The committee re-organized the form, removed redundant questions, and added more flexibility to the 2020 GFR. The final form maintained much of what made the existing GFR so important, but streamlined to meet current standards. The 2020 GFR is now widely available and ready for use.