Dear Bernice

To my mind this discusion is well developping and we seem close to an
adaquate formulation
of what a museum is - at least in terms of  ICOM and its statuts, as a wide
but still sufficiently percise
circumscription.
To achieve this in a still more complete way I want to come back to one of
my point I made earlier : we are talking and writing about society a great
lot - society or societies ? -  but it is the inidiviual who is going to the
museum and the sum of them and some others make up society, but it is not
society which goes to the museum and not every individual is part of the
respective society.  So why not embrace also the person we are always
adressing anyhow in our work at museums, the individual visitor by entering
him and her into the text " ... that serve individuals and society (ies?) on
a ...."

I think we could evitate the problem Steven is pointing to, "scientific", by
eliminating the word "cultural" : " .... conservation of the natural world
and the heritage of humanity .... " - but I would include "document" as one
of the basic activities of a museum.

So on the basis of Bernice's definition the definition would now read as
follows:

"Museums are institutions that serve individuals and society on a permanent
basis
by promoting knowledge, appreciation and conservation of the natural world
and the heritage of humanity  through collections, memories, sites and
processes
they care for, research, document and  interpret for public benefit."

It reads good, but somehow I not fully satisfied and would like to see a
value mark
somewhere, a measure, an evocation of ethics to provide for comparison and
minimum standards.

Great discussion, best wishes

Hans-Christoph von Imhoff
Assistant Coordinator - ICOM-CC-WG:
"Theorie and History of Conservation"
31, Blvd. de Pérolles
1700 Fribourg / Switzerland
tel  0041 (0) 321 14 44
fax 0041 (0) 321 14 44
[log in to unmask]






----- Original Message -----
From: "Bernice Murphy.com.au" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 2:38 PM
Subject: Re: Definition of a Museum


> Responding to Gary Edson (29 October 2003):
>
> Thank you, Gary, for the message indicating how you see the discussion has
> evolved.  I endorse strongly the effort to include more colleagues through
> incorporating whatever you can accomplish now by way of summary
translation
> into French and Spanish.
>
> I have taken time to reflect on the responses of colleagues, and to
> consider their different perspectives.  I also paid attention again to
> Geoffrey Lewis's suggestions - for his insightful comments on behalf of
the
> work of the Ethics Committee (which he has chaired through the detailed
> process of revising the ICOM Code of Ethics).  I strongly endorse his
point
> that we should be thinking of a definition that advances the interests of
> 'the museum profession' in its largest scope, not simply museums or museum
> professionals, or even ICOM members.
>
> Concerning one of the definitions you are keeping in circulation (the one
I
> proposed some weeks past), I would prefer to substitute this (revised)
version:
>
> "Museums are institutions that serve society by promoting knowledge,
> appreciation and conservation of the natural world and the cultural
> heritage of humanity through collections, memories, sites and processes
> they care for, research and interpret for public benefit."
>
> In response to Gary's query:  to my mind 'memories, images' are not
> necessarily part of 'collections', but carry a movement towards
> acknowledging the living, the virtual, the oral or literary image, and the
> intangible aspects of culture.
>
> I have retained 'memories', surrendered 'images' but included 'processes'
> this time (which could be both scientific and cultural).
>
> The important issue about a museum being presumed to be a permanent
> institution (and some other details) could be added in the points of
> application that would follow whatever revised definition is finally
> adopted in the ICOM Statutes.
>
> (For clarity, my previous suggestion - now withdrawn - was:
> Museums are permanent institutions that conserve and communicate knowledge
> of the natural world and the cultural inheritance of humanity through
> collections, records, memories, images, and sites they care for, research
> and interpret, in public trust, for present and future generations." )
> Bernice Murphy
> ===============
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
> Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
> archives at:  http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html
>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
archives at:  http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html