I don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers, but I couldn't delete this message fr
om Robin Panza from my file without responding. Nor do I want to seem like I'm
hurling insults or being a smart-aleck. But I just have to say that I don't u
nderstand anyone's puzzlement about the differences between libraries and museu
ms--THAT'S what puzzles me. I think that anyone who works in a museum or libra
ry (or archives) should have a firmer grasp of the essential differences among
these types of institutions. A number of people have tossed out some obviously
unworkable definitions & have tried some concepts that don't fly. The notion
of circulation, for example, turns out to be irrelevant. The fact that MANY li
braries DO circulate their stuff and MOST but not all museums DON'T circulate T
HEIR stuff demonstrates the uselessness of that distinction. I am suggesting w
ith all the humility I can possible muster: LOOK THESE WORDS UP IN ANY RELIABLE
DICTIONARY, and if you still can't figure out the differences, get back to me!
I know, I know, that sounds very smart-alecky, but please, please try it (I d
id). Now, I will readily admit that this isn't as simple as I first thought, b
ut it really isn't as difficult as people make it out to be. There's plenty of
room for philosophical discussion once you get past the basics, but it's impor
tant to realize what the basics are and distinguish those fundamentals from iss
ues which really just constitute the TRADITIONS of each type of institution. A
lso, bear in mind that the ICOM definition of museums is not a dictionary defin
ition at all--it simply describes the TYPE of museums with which they wish to c
oncern themselves. It ought to be reasonably obvious, for example, that "non-p
rofit" is not one of the essences of a museum. If you can set up an institutio
n which would in all respects be identical to a charitable-trust type of museum
, but in fact was out to make a profit, had stockholders, etc.--and I'm sure yo
u can envision such an institution, as rare as they might be--would you NOT cal
l it a museum just because it was a totally commercial venture? If not, what w
ould you call it? Now getting back to libraries, look up "library" in a dictio
nary: mine gives as the very basic definition "a collection of books." That co
vers the Library of Congress, public libraries, corporate libraries, my home li
brary, and a child's comic-book collection. It doesn't include a book store be
cause merchandise for sale with regular turnover of inventory isn't a "collecti
ion," although a "collection" can be put up for sale. Yes, a library COULD be
a book museum if the books are collected chiefly as cultural artifacts, example
s of bookbinding, design, color, paper manufacture, etc.--but most libraries ar
e NOT book museums AT ALL--they have a different nature and function, and their
collections are used in and studied in different ways than museum collections
are. Certainlythere's lots of overlap & it's fun to philosophize, but for the
most part, museums, libraries, and archives--which all COLLECT stuff--are dist
inguished from each other by the preponderant TYPE of stuffthey collect. And
I would hope--please don't be offended--that the people who work in such instit
utions would understand the fundamental differences. --David Haberstich, Natio
nal Museum of American History.
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