A Calll for an International Group of University Museums

Meetings were held to discuss the formation of an international
university museum group at two conferences held in Melbourne in
October 1998 (the 3rd UNESCO Forum, University and Heritage; and the
18th General Conference of ICOM).

3rd UNESCO Forum
At the UNESCO conference 30 people attended the international
university museum meeting.  After the reasons to form an international
university museum group had been outlined, representatives from
several countries spoke of the advantages of the proposal. There was
general agreement in favour.

Prior to this meeting, the Secretary General of ICOM, Mr Manus
Brinkman, had coincidently addressed the whole Forum, speaking in
favour of establishing a university museum committee, saying the need
was "pressing" both to protect university collections and to establish
close contacts and cooperation with other museums.

At the end of the UNESCO conference the General Assembly in its formal
statement recommended to ICOM "the development of an ICOM
International Committee of University Museums".

ICOM Conference
At the ICOM conference 40 people attended the international university
museum meeting.  ICOM members from eight countries spoke in favour of
the proposal.  It was agreed that the formation of an international
committee be pursued.  As the procedure to form a new international
committee is lengthy, it was recommended that virtual links be
established while the negotiations proceeded.

The recommendation was discussed informally after the meeting  with
the Secretary General, and some members of the new Executive Council
of ICOM.

More than 240 people have expressed interest, by business card or by
e-mail, in the proposal.  About half are presently members of ICOM.

Follow up action
Within three weeks I shall contact people who have expressed interest,
seeking their comment and signatures on a draft letter to ICOM
proposing the formation of an International Committee of University
Museums.   The letter will detail the advantages that the proposed new
committee will bring to ICOM,  the sector and the museum profession.

Soon after, I hope to make contact with individuals or national
representatives in many countries represented in ICOM, asking for an
appropriate contact with whom to build a correspondence to make a list
of university collections in their country.  The idea is to build a
web page which will be of use while the application to ICOM is
progressing.  I hope much of the business of the new group can be
carried out by electronic means.

Any person in MUSEUM-L who wishes to be kept informed of progress in
this project should reply to me off list at  [log in to unmask]
Aims include the preservation of collections and strong networking
between university museums and other areas of the museum profession.

Peter Stanbury, OAM, PhD
Museums, Collections & Heritage
Vice Chancellor's Office
Macquarie University
NSW, 2109
Australia
Phone: 61 2 9850 7431
Fax:   61 2 9850 7565