About New Museology The term 'new museology' has been introduced in museological literature at at least three different times at three different places. The use of the term is connected with the changing role of museums in education and in society at large. Current museum practices are considered obsolete and the whole attitude of the professional is criticized. The profession is urged to renew itself in the perspective of a new social commitment. As such the term 'new museology' was first introduced in the United States in 1958 by Mills and Grove in their contribution to S. De Borghegyi's book "The modern museum and the community". The second time was in 1980 by the French museologist Andre Desvallees in his article on museology for the supplement of the "Encyclopaedia Universalis" (France). Finally, in 1989 the term was used as the title of a book edited by Peter Vergo (United Kingdom). It is the French concept of 'museologie nouvelle' that gradually became recognized as on of the main streams within museology. The term has been monopolized by two related organizations: the Association Museologie Nouvelle et Experimentation Sociale (MNES), founded in 1982 in France, and the Movement Internationale pour la Museologie Nouvelle (MINOM), founded in 1984. MINOM is an international organization affiliated with ICOM. Its aim is more or less as Sandy Kaul has described (24 Sept. 1996). Dr Peter van Mensch senior lecturer of theoretical museology and museum ethics Reinwardt Academie Dapperstraat 315 1093 Amsterdam (the Netherlands) tel. +31 20 6922111 fax +31 20 6926836 e-mail [log in to unmask]