Museum Methods museum is usually a non-profit organization with intent to provide education and enlightenment by the organized collection, preservation, interpretation and exhibit of items deemed to be of interest to the public or community. Historically, museums have evolved as collaborative projects to house collected works gathered for the appreciation of the current and future generations in our society. However, such definitions cannot be regarded as the last word on the definition of the term 'museum', for the same definitions could be applied to such institutions as zoos, arboretums, nature centers, visitor centers, historical places and planetariums. In short, the museum concept remains hard to pin down:
Museums are more than the repositories of the past, with memories and objects both rare and beautiful. Museums are cultural, educational, and civic centers in our communities - centers for exhibition, conservation, research, and interpretation; they are theaters and movie houses, job-training programs, schools and day-care centers, libraries and concert halls (Pitman, 1).
As this statement from Bonnie Pitman suggests, a wide range of definitions exists for what museums are and what they do. Most definitions include the permanent preservation and public display of significant cultural, educational, scientific and artistic objects. In particular, public perceptions of museums have tended to focus on their role as repositories and showcases for the latter; as Harold Skramstad has commented, 'When journalists and others outside the museum field speak of "museums," they are generally referring to art museums' (Skramstad, 111). As a definition of a museum's purpose, however, this is very vague, given that the definition of art is so loosely translated in our culture. A more precise definition might be found in consideration of the fact that conservation and collection is usually a requirement in defining the measure of a museum - a definition that raises the question of methodology as much as purpose.
The International Council of Museums follows this model in the standards it applies to the organizational structure, responsibilities, classification and research that form the science of museology and the discipline of museography - the techniques that are used in the operation and practice of museum science. This approach can be viewed as a starting point in defining the categorization of museums, but boundaries still remain blurred and controversy continues both within the museum professional and in wider society on the classifications of museum types.
One way out of this problem is to define anything as a museum that calls itself a museum. The wide applicability of the term in this sense is reflected in the fact that in our modern world, many people with individual collections of personal interest have established institution they refer to as museums. These museums are compilations of thematic objects that are offered by individuals seeking approval and admiration from the public for the displayed works. With an endless array of thematic museums in almost every city, collections representing most hobbies and topics have placed the term museum on private institutions involving object accumulation and presentation. This use of the term 'museum' in some ways harks back to the origin of the modern museum in the 'cabinets of curiosities' and personal collections of the eighteenth century (Spalding, 38), but in today's context I question the use of the term represented by a private doll collection being referred to as a 'doll museum.' To give another example, having traveled through South Dakota this past summer, I noted references to the Cornhusk Temple and Museum on the tourist maps. Although many cornhusk artisans enjoy the use of vegetable remains in their leisure pursuit, I fail to see the connection between a hobby and an appropriate use of the term 'museum.' I lean toward a less liberal, more culturally conservative belief that museums require a more traditional approach to continue to serve society with higher standards and dignity.
An analysis of two important strands in museum displays, anthropology and natural history, sheds some light on the issue of the relationship between the preservation and expansion of knowledge and the need for public display and entertainment in museological methods and approaches. Noting the differences between natural history and anthropology is important in museum science. Natural history could be defined the systematic and organized account of natural phenomena. Anthropology is division of social science that focuses on the study of human beings, including the evolution and social relationships of humans. Human evolution is a natural phenomenon and therefore the subjects overlap in a distinguishable area of interrelated content. Fossilized hominid remains would be appropriately displayed in either a museum of natural history or a museum of anthropology. The interpretation of archaeological...
Museum Paintings Fauvism in 20th-century Paintings The medium I have selected for the time line I will be working on for the museum website is 20th-century Western painting, sharing the common theme of Fauvism. th-century Western painting began with the weighty influence of painters like Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec and the like - all of whom played critical roles in shaping the modern art. At the
The Registrar is further responsible for the computerized collection management system, legal documents, and files associated with acquisitions, condition reports, accessioning, cataloguing, loans, packing, shipping, inventory, insurance and storage. (Patch, 2004) III. The LIBRARY Librarians generally focus on one of three aspects of work in the library, which include: (1) user services; (2) technical services; and (3) administrative services. Librarians utilize the most recent information technology for conducting research, classification of
Museums in Paris The Louvre Museum can be categorized as one of the world's largest and most magnificent museums. It also marks a monument and an attractive sightseeing location for tourists from all over the world. Standing near the River Seine and stretching over 60,000 meters square, this museum has its own unique history. The museum was a transformation from the Louvre Palace, built as a fortress for King Louis XIV. He
Alternatively, the person or group acknowledged as a legitimate representative may wish that the museum could continue to hold an object for the benefit of the other party." (Boyd, nd; p. 196) in this instance there should be clarity in the "terms and responsibilities of such holding..." (Boyd, nd; p.196) Boyd relates that in a museum that is 'collection-based' deaccession is an issue that is "exceedingly contentious" (p. 196)
As a designer, Westwood's methodology was immediately defined by her willingness to experiment with an eclectic range of inspirations, and soon after starting her career "she began to research in the National Art Library in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and found patterns for 18th-century men's clothing & #8230; which formed the basis for the billowing shirt and exaggerated trousers of the colorful, romantic 1981 Pirate collection, their
SETI, of course, is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence that has been taking place throughout various countries and nations on earth for quite some time. The way the site works is that there are a number of telescopes that are pointed in outer space and are picking up radio wave frequencies from what scientists have denoted as likely targets for extraterrestrial existence. These stars have been determined to be
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