Our organization (and we call ourselves a museum) not only doesn't collect objects we don't exist in physical space.  Yet I believe we are a museum in that we attempt to educate the public through the use of material culture.  As an earlier comment suggested we believe we are contributing to the preservation of material cultural resources through our exhibits and support for those working in the field.  

Having said all that we have recognized the extent to which many of our recent postings have not been exhibit oriented.  We are considering creating an on online resource center to encompass those postings such as our project journals and "In the Field" pages.  This would leave only those exhibits like our CSS Alabama section under the heading of the museum.  

To further muddy the waters we are working toward becoming what we call a "distributed museum" wherein we assist with the research and creation of physical exhibits at small local maritime museums that would have both a physical and electronic component.  But here too we won't actually own or house these exhibits which could be distributed all over the world.  Our museum in a sense could be anywhere although never entirely in one place.  In our view the goal of education through the use of material culture, whether through images or through the physical artifacts themselves is the key factor in all of this.   

The museum field is changing with the spread of high speed Internet connections.  Many museums have created online components or exhibits that don’t exist in the real world anymore.  Are these not exhibits?  Is there a significant difference between seeing an object behind glass and an interactive version of an object that allows the user to rotate it, zoom in for a closer look, or step back?  Should museums that use virtual exhibits post a disclaimer, “this isn’t really an exhibit”?

We admit we don’t have definitive answers to all these questions but while we all work that out we’ll keep experimenting and moving forward.

T Kurt Knoerl
Managing Director
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology

http://www.uri.edu/mua

>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: museum chanteuse <[log in to unmask]>
>  Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Museum or not?
>  Sent: 21 Feb '07 16:28
>  
>  I participated in a discussion with other museum professionals and Museum
>  Studies students regarding a developing institution in our community that
>  wants to call itself a museum.
>  
>  
>  The organization will be like a museum in every respect except in one
>  significant way.  Among its ambitions, it will be open to the public, it
>  will seek to educate through exhibitions and programs, and it will
>  maintain a stable and secure environment for materials, art and artifacts
>  in its care.
>  
>  
>  It will display and use art and artifacts but not collect and care for
>  their own at this time.
>  
>  
>  There are a number of non-collecting institutions that call themselves
>  museums, but I feel strongly that part of the definition of a museum is an
>  institution that collects and preserves art, artifacts, specimens, etc.,
>  in the public trust for perpetuity.
>  
>  
>  The committee behind this developing organization thought the title of
>  "museum" conveyed a stronger sense of permanence or would create a unique
>  position in the community.  I think its a bad use of semantics.
>  
>  
>  What are the feelings about this topic among list members?
>  
>  
>  --------------------
>  Looking for earth-friendly autos?
>  [LINK:
>  http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/;_ylc=X3oDMTE4MGw4Z2hlBF9TAzk3MTA3MDc2BHNlYwNtYWlsdGFncwRzbGsDZ3JlZW5jZW50ZXI-]
>  Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.
>  ========================================================= Important
>  Subscriber Information:
>  
>  The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>  http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
>  information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
>  message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
>  read "help" (without the quotes).
>  
>  If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
>  [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
>  Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).