Some children's museums have extensive collections and others have none at
all. Yet we all call ourselves museums. In our PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES
document,  The Association of Youth Museums defines it this way:

..a children's museum is defined as an instititution committed to serving the
needs and interests of children by providing exhibits and programs that
stimulate curiosity and motivate learning. Children's museums are organized
and permanent non-profit institutions essentially educational in purpose,
with professional staff, which utilize objects, and are open to the public on
some regular schedule.

It goes on to say:

The children's museum field recognizes the following definitions of types of
collections adopted by the AAM Accrediation Commission:

Educational Collections:  SUpport the mission of the museum and are held for
public use in exhibitions and public programs

Permanent Collections:  have intrinsic value to art, history, science or
culture; and are held and curated on a permanent basis

Research Collections: are held for comparitive study and study purposes

The PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES document continues by defining OBJECT:
As defined for children's museums, objects primarily serve as tools to
motivate learning and address the developmental needs of children. They are
instruments for carrying out the children's museum's educational objectives,
and reflect these purposes. The mode of presentation is substantially
interactive and contextual. Objects may not necessarily have intrinsic value
to science, history, art or culture, and can include constructed activity
pieces and exhibit components.

**I know this is specifically for children's museums but I thought some of
these definitions might be helpful.

Jeanne Finan