Over the years as collecting clubs and associations have matured, one of the areas that many clubs have made a major commitment to is that of documentation and preservation. This may include several different areas: 1) documenting their club history and activities; 2) organizing and preserving the club's history in an archives; 3) building a club "collection" of their specific collecting area; 4) establishing a permanent museum, or supporting an existing museum for the purpose of preserving a noteworthy physical documentation of the collecting area or areas which the club supports. An additional option which is growing more popular is that of developing a virtual club museum on the club's website.

The Association of Collecting Clubs (ACC) wholeheartedly supports this trend as another, of the many ways, which collecting groups are not only supporting their own members, but the entire collecting community of the antiques, arts and collectibles industry.

Not only are club-sponsored museums and archives a responsible endeavor for collecting clubs, but they can make an excellent project in which club members can become involved at various levels. Members can contribute items from their own collections to a museum. They can help plan and organize museum exhibits. Museum or archive fund raisers will appeal to a certain segment of the membership. Long time members may be willing to document "living histories" of the early days of the club activities and collecting experiences.

ACC, through our Collectors.Org website, is assisting in making these club efforts more visible. The Club Museum and Archives Directory highlights those archives and museums which are club-sponsored, or in which the club has contributed to... or owns a significant collection-oriented exhibit within the museum. The other criteria is that the archives or museum must be available to the general public.

If your collecting group has an established archive or museum and is not listed in this directory, please let us know by completing our on-line form.