> From: "Elizabeth A. Moore" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> I have to agree with Elizabeth Hanson; I think a move away from collections
> based museums is very unfortunate.  Do visitors really prefer the high-tech,
> hands-on stuff though?

So far in this discussion we've written about several kinds of museums
without collections, and I would argue that many are far from
"unfortunate". No collection does not have to mean unscholarly,
unmeaningful, uneducational, or high-tech. You can teach with objects
you do not own.

Some museums borrow valuable objects from other museums and private
collections to assemble a temporary exhibit that is fully interpreted,
and may provide a richer assemblage of objects than one institution
could muster from its own collections.

Some museums, like children's museums, use a teaching collection of
objects that are not necessary valuable or fully accessioned, but
nonetheless meaningful when placed in an educational context such as an
exhibit or program.

Some museums display emphemeral materials, such as some forms of
contemporary conceptual art.

Some museums interpret popular culture, such as graphic design, and
borrow from producers and collectors of those ever-changing materials.

Some museums attempt to recreate an experience, and are closer to
theater than a traditional museum, and still provide full scholarly and
curatorial support for the images and texts they use.

I would include all these in MY definition of "museum". I don't think
it's "unfortunate" to use all the tools at our disposal to teach and
create meaningful learning experiences for our audience.

Carol Ely
Museum Consultant, Louisville, KY
(and, since it's relevant to this discussion, Ph.D., American History,
with special emphasis on Material Culture Studies)

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