Museums inspire awe and enlighten us with their carefully curated collections and transcendent exhibitions. They entice visitors to explore cultures that are new to them and change their views on society. While some naysayers are quick to dismiss museums as boring, the best ones have the power to draw visitors in and make them think differently about the world around them.
A museum is an institution that houses and displays primary tangible evidence of humankind and the environment, while differing from a library in that it presents its items in their cultural context. Its functions include research, conservation, education and communication. The latter involves making the objects available to public for study, appreciation and enjoyment, and is based on the understanding that museums preserve and share knowledge for their own benefit, but also contribute to society by communicating with them (Noble 1970).
Founded for a range of reasons, museums reveal remarkable diversity in form, content and even function. Some serve as recreational facilities or scholarly venues; others promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavour; still more seek to transmit overtly ideological concepts. Whatever the origins of a particular museum, however, the basic responsibilities of its existence have remained the same throughout history: its mission is to preserve and interpret a material aspect of culture.
In the past, the definition of a museum was generally self imposed: when applying for a charter or for funding, a museum would usually include lofty goals of service to society in some specified field. This meant that its curators and directors could be expected to restrict the scope of its activities to this goal, at least in the face of public censure.
Today, museums have much more flexibility in what they can do, and a new debate is underway over their definition. The International Council of Museums, which represents museums worldwide, is in the process of revising its own definition. The project has caused controversy: several people working on the committee have resigned and accusations of back-alley political games.
A key question in this discussion is whether museums should focus on preserving and disseminating information about their artifacts, or be more active in promoting social and political issues. Some museums are already tackling this issue head-on; others are less inclined to do so.
As the debate over the definition of a museum continues, it will be interesting to see how these different ideas about what museums should do evolve over time. What is certain, though, is that there are more ways than ever for museums to make the world a better place. And for that, we all deserve a good museum.
