About Museum Basics

Foreword

The world of museums is changing astonishingly quickly, as the world around us changes. When the first edition of this book was launched by ICOM in 1993, we still wrote letters, used card indexes, and developed photographs in darkrooms. It is not only the technology that has changed: our understanding of our mission to serve the public has developed too, and ‘museums’ in many parts of the world are as much concerned with our intangible heritage as with traditional objects. Above all, there are now many thousands more museums, and the museums movement has come to almost every part of the world. ICOM has been at the forefront of efforts to support museum workers in this new world.

Some things, though, do not change. Above all, the need for training continues and grows. ICOM developed this manual as a way of supporting and encouraging workers (paid and unpaid) in smaller museums throughout the world, and we have been delighted by the welcome it has received in museums of many different kinds in all sorts of cultures.

I warmly welcome this third edition of Museum Basics, and hope it will be very useful both for those training to be museum workers, and for those already working in museums, especially those facing the challenges of too little time and too little money.

Dr Hans-Martin Hinz
President, International Council of Museums (ICOM)

Book Information

Museums throughout the world have common needs and face common challenges. Keeping up to date with new ideas and changing practice is challenging for small and medium-sized museums, where time for reading and training is often restricted. This new edition of Museum Basics has therefore been produced for the many museums worldwide that operate with limited resources and few professional staff. The comprehensive training course provided within the book is also suitable for museum studies students who wish to gain a full understanding of work within a museum.

Drawing from a wide range of practical experience, the authors provide a basic guide to all aspects of museum work, from audience development and education, through collections management and conservation, to museum organisation and forward planning. Organised on a modular basis with over 100 units, Museum Basics can be used as a reference work to assist day-to-day museum management and as the key textbook in pre-service and in-service training programmes. It is designed to be supplemented by case studies, project work and group discussion.

This third edition has been fully updated and extended to take account of the many changes that have occurred in the world of museums in the last five years. It includes over 100 new diagrams supporting the text, a glossary, sources of information and support as well as a select bibliography.

Timothy Ambrose is an international consultant working in the field of museums and cultural heritage. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a Fellow of the Museums Association. He has a particular interest in the role of museums in destination development and has published widely.

Crispin Paine is a museums and heritage consultant, writer and lecturer. He is an honorary lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and a Fellow of the Museums Association. He has particular interests in local community museums and in the material culture of religion.