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Presidents, and all International Committee Chairs.

Dear ICOM colleagues:

The quest for a definition of a museum continues. During the past month I
have given attention to the responses received and the questions asked about
the benefits of a revised definition of a museum. As I have stated, I
believe consideration of the issue is important for the museum profession,
regardless of whether a decision is made to change the definition or not.

I certainly endorse the idea that as many members of ICOM as possible should
have the opportunity to consider this issue. This notion is endorse by many
people and efforts are being made to provide a range of discussion options.
One of the ways to continue the investigation of this issue is ICOM-L and
ADCOM (National and International Committee presidents and chairs). I have
been asked to continue this electronic discussion as one part of the
process. We are working toward the meeting in Seoul where there will be a
time for further deliberation on this subject. Be assured that it is the
General Assembly of ICOM that has the ultimate authority to approve or
disapprove the definition.

In the mean time, perhaps we can consider the issue from another
perspective. The statement was made that the current definition has been in
place for the past 30 years and that it should remain unchanged. In fact,
the definition adopted in 1974 by the Eleventh General Assembly of ICOM,
Copenhagen,  separated the museum definition (Article 3) from the in
addition (definition qualifying) statement (Article 4). Whereas the
definition adopted by the 20th General Assembly of ICOM, Barcelona, Spain, 6
July 2001, arranges the definition and all the qualifying elements into one
continuous shopping list of institutions and activities. That arrangement
may seem minor, however this change is significant in that the resulting
definition is very complex and descriptive.  I believe a definition should
convey the fundamental character of the museum rather than describe the
variables.

As a point of consideration, we might look at the current definition of a
museum, but separate the qualifying conditions.

The definition of museum would read as follows:

<A museum is a non-profit making, permanent institution in the service of
society and of its development, and open to the public, which acquires,
conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study,
education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and the environment.>

A separate article could make reference to this definition and add the
qualifying institutions and activities.

This approach may be a starting place for those persons who are concerned
about changing the definition.

I will have this document translated to Spanish and French for distribution.

Gary Edson
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