Dear Peter,

raising again the questing of museum theory, I may drop some sentences on it.
By, keep in mind, I am not a museologist.

You say: Museum theory is related to Museology, but is not equated with. Then
you deal with the so-called museum definitions.

In my personal opinion most of the often cited museums definitions are no
definitions at all. I made this clear in a prepared contribution for one of the
next ISSOM courses in Brno. Check the typical "definitions of what`s a
definition", developed bey the theory of sciences and you will see that I am
right.
Museum definitions are a part of museum theory. The are not equated with the
theory.
Museum theory is part of museology.

Speaking of museums, we have to separate the buildings and the institutions.
There is also a museum building theory.
And there is the theory of the institution.

What generally makes a theory a theory?
A theory is a working tool to explain something.
It should not only explain the present status of something, but also its past
and future.
It should be useful for in- and outsiders.
There may be different theories on the same subject at the same time.
A theory may be replaced by a better theory someday, it another theory explains
something better than the earlier one. This is mostly caused by a change of
paradigms.
A theory contains in itself provabel and depending sentences on the subject
around a real definition of the subject.

Why did only a few people answer this important question? Because pragmatism
seems to be a higher value for museum people than insight in their doing. Most
of them come from theory overloaded universities and are longing for practical
doing. Only a few of them realize later that without museum theory (or a
museological background) they are not only feathers in the wind, but are also
missing a guiding and controlling line for their creativity.

Museology and museum theory are important. But we need young scientists for the
further development of it. On October 6th, 1998, the International Association
of Museologists (IAM) will be founded in Tutzing, near Munich at the
Evangelische Akademie, 19 hours.
YOU WANT MORE INFOS? JUST MAIL DIRECTLY BACK "SEND IAM-INFOS".

Yours

Dr. Christian Mueller-Straten

Verlag Dr. C. Mueller-Straten, Kunzweg 23, D-81243 Muenchen,
Tel/Fax: 089-839 690 43, http://WebMuseen.de/VERLAGCMS
MAGAZINES AND BOOKS IN MUSEOLOGY (GERMAN/ENGLISH)+ GERMAN THESAURI