I must say that I find Mr. Doty's observations somewhat puzzling and perhaps a bit disconcerting. It does not seem unreasonable to me that the leading organization in our field would think it relevant to review its basic documents every thirty or so years. Most museums review and revise their mission statements far more frequently. And it is not as though our profession has been frozen in time. The past three decades have seen some of the most challenging changes in our society, and technology. These changes have influenced the configurations, methods and purposes of many museums and added yet-to-be-tested new concepts like the so-called "virtual museum." It also puzzles me as to why this review should be considered pretentious. Or perhaps the pretentious part is the involvement of those who would like to get this right. Overdone? Of the thousands of museums worldwide there have been comments from perhaps two dozen separate organizations. In my mind, from a participation view, this is, if anything, underdone. As for keeping the doors open, I sincerely doubt that anyone has sacrificed his or her commitment to organizational survival by taking a few thoughtful moments to reflect on this definition and its meaning for our profession. In the coming age of accreditation, museum proliferation, instant worldwide communications, museum pretenders, copyright problems and the like, this may be an exercise fully deserving of our input and patience.
Milton Bloch
>>> [log in to unmask] 02/20/04 09:32AM >>>
It strikes me that all this
soul-searching to seek the definition of a museum is a trifle pretentious
and distinctly overdone. What we should be worrying about is keeping
museums open in the face of public and private pressures and/or
indifference, rather than attempting to define their essence; because if
matters continue as they are, we shall have abundant time to debate what the
definition of a museum was, in the days when they still existed.
R. G. Doty
President, ICOMON
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