September 2014
Libraries Unlimited
| Pages |
155 |
| Volumes |
1 |
| Size |
7x10 |
| Topics |
Archives and Records Management/Foundations and Principles of Archives |
| |
Management and Administration/General |
This broad introduction to museums benefits all educators who teach introductory museum studies, addressing the discipline from a holistic, dynamic, and document-centered perspective.
Museums serve to help us understand the past and navigate our future—as individuals, as societies, and as a global community. A careful and accurate assessment of a museum's purpose is crucial to its ability to serve its users effectively. Foundations of Museum Studies: Evolving Systems of Knowledge offers a holistic introduction to museums and the study of them from the perspective of specialization in museum studies within the context of library and information science (LIS).
The book strikes a balance between theory and practice, examining museums from a systems perspective that considers museums to be document-centered institutions—that objects are documents that generate and convey information, meaning, and inspiration. The authors utilize examples drawn from their experience with institutions in the United States that can be applied to museums across the world. Future museum professionals who read this book will have a broader perspective, an expanded skill set, and the adaptability to span the spectrum of traditional academic disciplines.
Features
- Frames museum studies within an information context and specifically addresses the interests and concerns of librarians
- Benefits all educators who teach introductory museum studies, addressing the discipline from a holistic, dynamic, and document-centered perspective
- Highlights how museums are embedded in a larger cultural complex that includes libraries, archives, and other information institutions
- Author Info
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Kiersten F. Latham is assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University, Kent, OH, where she has developed the museum studies specialization within the MLIS program. Latham has worked in a diverse array of museums over a 20-year period. Her published works center around the museum as a holistic institution, the meaning of objects in human life, and the lived experience of museum visitors.
John E. Simmons is an international museum consultant and lecturer who has worked in museums for more than 40 years. He has published widely on the care of natural history collections, collections management, and policy development.
- Table of Contents
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CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
SECTION I: INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1: Defining Museums and Museum Studies
Chapter 2: The Origins of Museums
SECTION II: HOW
Chapter 3: The Museum System
Chapter 4: Dimensions of Museums
SECTION III: WHAT
Chapter 5: Species of Museums--A Museological Bestiary
Chapter 6: The Meaningful Physical Resource
SECTION IV: WHO
Chapter 7: Museum Workers
Chapter 8: Museum Users
SECTION V: WHERE
Chapter 9: Museums around the World
SECTION VI: WHY
Chapter 10: The Future of Museums
Index
- Reviews/Endorsements
Reviews
"It is well-written, concise, well-structured, and a good introduction to the topic."—Systematic Biology
Endorsements
"This is a terrific work and I'm so impressed with the amount of thought and hard work that is evidenced here. There is absolutely nothing else like this and it fills a real need for those of us who teach museum studies. I've relied on multiple authored readers and course packs of articles in the past and none of those have been entirely satisfactory. This is 'thorough composed' as it were—planned out from beginning to end—and is a big improvement over anything else available for teaching."—Brad Taylor, Associate Director; Museum Studies Program, University of Michigan
- Look Inside
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