museums, collections, and information

Fragments of the World

Suzanne Keene

Butterworth Heinemann: 2005: ISBN 075066472X

Why do we have museum collections? Research, learning, memory, creativity - or just to enjoy? For museum professionals, students, anyone interested

Museums hold enormous and growing collections of objects in store, the primary use of which is not exhibition. Yet the existence of the collections is challenged by the changing role of the museum, from object and collections centred to people centred. Further, there are political pressures on museums to make proper use of all their resources, including the stored collections.

What uses of the collections besides exhibition are possible? How can we understand their values, when these are clearly not economic ones? What will be the effects of digitisation? Should collections be disposed of or dispersed - or are collections centres separate from the museum the answer?

Fragments of the World examines these questions. Cultural theory relating to research, learning, memory and identity, creativity and enjoyment is explained, and illustrated using examples from museums around the world. Bringing together political and economic ideas, the book provides an inspirational roadmap for museums to make better use of this wonderful resource.

Contents

1 Introduction
Poem: The Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford, by James Fenton
2 Museums
3 Collections
4 Collections for research
5 Collections for ongoing learning
Poem: Flea market, by John Fuller
6 Collections, memory and identity
7 Collections and creativity
Poem: Beowulf: the treasure and the dragon, trans. Howell D. Pickering
8 Collections for enjoyment
9 Collections and digitization
10 Collections and values
Poem: Poetry, by Saadi Youssef
11 Piecing together the fragments

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Policy and context
Values of collections
Research
Ongoing learning
Memory + identity
Creativity
Enjoyment
Digitisation