The science museum field has made tremendous advances in understanding museum learning, but little has been done to consolidate and synethesize these findings to encourage widespread improvements in practice. By clearly presenting the most current knowledge of museum learning, In Principle, In Practice aims to promote effective programs and exhibitions, identify promising approaches for future research, and develop strategies for implementing and sustaining connections between research and practice in the museum community.

Collection Conundrums: Solving Museum Registration Mysteries provides guidelines for investigating the oddities found in every museum collection - objects without record, identification or sometimes even a location - and determining what to do. Written by registrars Rebecca Buck and Jean A. Gilmore, editors of the best-selling The New Museum Registration Methods, this new volume contains essential information for museums large and small, new and old. The text offers solutions to the problems of old loans, undocumented objects found in collections, items lost in inventory, supplementary collections and more, as well as guidelines on how to keep problems from occurring in the first place. Features a history of registration methods and the standards for collection documentation and care, along with sample documents such as loan agreements, co-tenancy agreements, storage agreements and deed of gift. Recommended for everyone involved in collections planning and management.

In contrast to a significant recent volume in this area (Labadi, ed. 2019 see below), this volume does not focus only on international aid, but instead considers a range of different actors with diverse approaches to and understandings of 'development'. This volume does not only engage with formalised heritage, such as museums, monuments, and memorials. Contributions consider a range of ostensibly past-focused practices and interventions that may not be explicitly referred to as 'heritage' by the actors concerned. This marks a contrast with significant earlier work in the field (e.g. Basu and Modest eds., 2014 see below). Contributors to this volume include both scholars from a range of fields and practitioners, working in museums, UNESCO, and local government. This will help to ensure the content is engaged with contemporary practice as well as theory, and the relevance of the volume to students and practitioners. This volume will not comprise a set of disparate case studies. Rather, authors will critically review how heritage informs the pursuit of development within a broad general field, illustrating this with examples drawn from their own research. This will ensure consistency in focus across the contributions and the forum style conclusion will allow leading scholars from both Critical Heritage Studies and Development Studies to identify the key thematic points commonalities emerging from ostensibly diverse areas of scholarship and practice.

Living history museums are cultural institutions that merge historical exhibits with live costumed performance. While unique and vitally important, they often compromise historical accuracy and authenticity for the sake of tourism and entertainment value. Many also pursue methods of performance and historiography that are becoming increasingly outdated. Living History Museums: Undoing History Through Performance examines the performance practices used by institutions such as Plimoth Plantation and Colonial Williamsburg, and offers a new genealogy of living history museum performance in the U.S. and Europe. Currently, existing scholarship on living history museums addresses the subject from a museum-studies or anthropology perspective. Author Scott Magelssen, however, approaches the material from a background in theatre history and theory, analyzing living history museums using postmodern methodology. Considering performance as a method for the study of history and exploring emergent non-traditional theatrical practices, the book offers suggestions for performance in an increasingly postmodern landscape. Concluding with an international listing of living history institutions and a complete list of sources, Living History Museums is a valuable resource for students and teachers of theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, folklore, popular culture, American studies, and museum studies.

Concentrating on the explorer and naturalist Joseph Banks (1743-1820), this book explores the early history of collections at the British Museum. Taking Banks' extraordinary career as its basis, it examines the changes that took place during a period of transition that led to collecting on an increasingly global scale.

"Museums and the Combating of Prejudice" addresses an increasingly significant issue for museums internationally but one which has, to date, received very little theoretical or empirical investigation. In recent years there has been a growing interest, within the academy, and amongst cultural policy makers and practitioners, in the social role, impact and responsibility of museums. It is possible to detect a growing confidence amongst practitioners, internationally, in articulating goals which position museums as agents of positive social change. The volume is not focused on a singular, specific type of prejudice but is concerned rather more broadly with the ways in which the "other" is constituted and perceived resulting in wide-ranging forms of prejudice on the basis of, for example, sexual orientation, race, gender, disability, religious faith and so on.
Though there is considerable rhetoric surrounding the museum's role in this area there is both a paucity of empirical evidence anda lack of theoretical interrogation with which to inform and substantiate these assertions. "Museums and the" "Combating of Prejudice," uniquely, blends leading-edge theory with in-depth empirical research to investigate the processes through which museums inform audiences' values and attitudes and, alongside other media, contribute towards broader social change.
Interest in the social role of museums and their potential to combat prejudice extends to many parts of the world. Alongside a small but growing number of specialist museums whose primary purpose and rationale is built around the combating of prejudice, museums of all kinds are increasingly concerned to represent variously constitutedforms of cultural difference through their collections and displays. The book reflects this by drawing upon a wide range of international examples including those in the US (e.g. initiatives at the Smithsonian Museums, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Museum of Tolerance), Canada (e.g. the proposed Canadian Museum for Human Rights), South Africa (e.g. Constitution Hill and the Apartheid Museum), Australia (Migration Museum, National Museum of Australia). In addition, the book draws on empirical data generated from interviews with museum audiences and staff at the Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Holland) and St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art (Glasgow, Scotland).
"Museums and the Combating of Prejudice" brings together contemporary theoretical developments in sociological, media and audience studies, combined with in-depth field research (from a number of different research projects), to explore the ways in which museums might achieve their goals of combating prejudice. It focuses, in particular, on the ways in which audiences "read," engage with, and construct meaning from museum exhibitions and displays that purposefully seek to combat prejudice but also considers the curatorial implications arising from the museum's engagement with these issues.
"Museums and the Combating of Prejudice" addresses issues of critical importance for those working in and thinking about museums and make a unique contribution to live debates within sociology, media and audience studies.

"Museums and the Combating of Prejudice" addresses an increasingly significant issue for museums internationally but one which has, to date, received very little theoretical or empirical investigation. In recent years there has been a growing interest, within the academy, and amongst cultural policy makers and practitioners, in the social role, impact and responsibility of museums. It is possible to detect a growing confidence amongst practitioners, internationally, in articulating goals which position museums as agents of positive social change. The volume is not focused on a singular, specific type of prejudice but is concerned rather more broadly with the ways in which the "other" is constituted and perceived resulting in wide-ranging forms of prejudice on the basis of, for example, sexual orientation, race, gender, disability, religious faith and so on.
Though there is considerable rhetoric surrounding the museum's role in this area there is both a paucity of empirical evidence anda lack of theoretical interrogation with which to inform and substantiate these assertions. "Museums and the" "Combating of Prejudice," uniquely, blends leading-edge theory with in-depth empirical research to investigate the processes through which museums inform audiences' values and attitudes and, alongside other media, contribute towards broader social change.
Interest in the social role of museums and their potential to combat prejudice extends to many parts of the world. Alongside a small but growing number of specialist museums whose primary purpose and rationale is built around the combating of prejudice, museums of all kinds are increasingly concerned to represent variously constitutedforms of cultural difference through their collections and displays. The book reflects this by drawing upon a wide range of international examples including those in the US (e.g. initiatives at the Smithsonian Museums, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Museum of Tolerance), Canada (e.g. the proposed Canadian Museum for Human Rights), South Africa (e.g. Constitution Hill and the Apartheid Museum), Australia (Migration Museum, National Museum of Australia). In addition, the book draws on empirical data generated from interviews with museum audiences and staff at the Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Holland) and St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art (Glasgow, Scotland).
"Museums and the Combating of Prejudice" brings together contemporary theoretical developments in sociological, media and audience studies, combined with in-depth field research (from a number of different research projects), to explore the ways in which museums might achieve their goals of combating prejudice. It focuses, in particular, on the ways in which audiences "read," engage with, and construct meaning from museum exhibitions and displays that purposefully seek to combat prejudice but also considers the curatorial implications arising from the museum's engagement with these issues.
"Museums and the Combating of Prejudice" addresses issues of critical importance for those working in and thinking about museums and make a unique contribution to live debates within sociology, media and audience studies.

What is the relationship today between museums, galleries and learning? The Responsive Museum interrogates the thinking, policies and practices that underpin the educational role of the museum. It unravels the complex relationship of museums with their publics, and discusses today's challenges and the debates that have resulted. The highly experienced team of writers, including museum educators and directors, share their different experiences and views, and review recent research and examples of best practice. They analyse the implications of audience development and broadening public access, particularly in relation to special groups, minority communities and disabled people, and for individual self-development and different learning styles; they explore issues of public accountability and funding; discuss the merits of different evaluation tools and methodologies for measuring audience impact and needs; and assess the role of architects, designers and artists in shaping the visitor experience. The latter part of this book reviews practical management and staffing issues, and training and skills needs for the future. This book is for students, museum staff, especially those involved in education and interpretation, and senior management and policy-makers. This is a much-needed review of the relationship between museums and galleries and their users. It also offers a wealth of information and expertise to guide future strategy and practice.

1. This book explores the diversity of Africa's cultural heritage, analyses how and why this heritage has been managed and considers the factors that continue to influence management strategies and systems throughout the African continent. 2. This book includes contributions from a cast of prominent scholars and heritage professionals working across Africa. 3. This book examines the ideological influence of independence movements on the African continent's management and remembering of heritage. 4. This will be essential reading for those engaged in the study of museums and heritage, development, archaeology, anthropology, history and African studies. It will also be of interest to heritage and museum professionals who wish to learn more about the issues of decolonisation of heritage.

Public Art acknowledges the trend among contemporary museums to promote participatory and processual exhibition strategies meant to elicit subjective experience. At the same time it valorizes the object-oriented tradition that has long differentiated museums from other institutions similarly committed to public service and the perpetuation of cultural values. To blend and expand these aims, Hein draws upon a movement toward ephemerality and impermanence in public art. She proposes a new dynamic for the museum that is temporal and pluralistic, while retaining a grounding in material things. The museum is an agent, not a repository; and like public art, it interacts constructively with passing and transitory publics. As an actor with social clout, the museum has moral impact and responsibilities beyond those of the individuals that comprise its collective identity. The book should be read by museum workers and students, by arts and foundation administrators, critics, educators, aestheticians, institutional historians and theorists, and by anyone interested in the transmission of cultural concepts and values.

Public Art acknowledges the trend among contemporary museums to promote participatory and processual exhibition strategies meant to elicit subjective experience. At the same time it valorizes the object-oriented tradition that has long differentiated museums from other institutions similarly committed to public service and the perpetuation of cultural values. To blend and expand these aims, Hein draws upon a movement toward ephemerality and impermanence in public art. She proposes a new dynamic for the museum that is temporal and pluralistic, while retaining a grounding in material things. The museum is an agent, not a repository; and like public art, it interacts constructively with passing and transitory publics. As an actor with social clout, the museum has moral impact and responsibilities beyond those of the individuals that comprise its collective identity. The book should be read by museum workers and students, by arts and foundation administrators, critics, educators, aestheticians, institutional historians and theorists, and by anyone interested in the transmission of cultural concepts and values.

In this important book, the authors unpack the theoretical and practical issues around the development of heritage sites, critically dissecting key conservation benchmarks such as the ICOMOS guidelines, BS 7913 and the RIBA Conservation Plan of Work to reveal the mechanics of heritage guidance, its advantages and conceptual limitations. Underpinned by an active understanding of the conservation philosophy of William Morris, the book presents five case studies from the UK and North and South America that speak about different facets of heritage value, such as urban identity, commodification, authenticity, materiality and heritage as an intellectual and ethical framework. Heritage is never neutral; its definition is privileged yet its influence is political. Art, landscape and archaeology all offer examples of how the operational ideas of adjacent disciplines can influence an integrated idea of heritage conservation, and how this is communicated in order to determine significance and share in its custodianship. This book provides insights into how to identify and challenge these limitations, expanding inclusion by describing tactics for changing how people can relate to and build on the past. Clearly written for all levels of readership within the conservation professions and community custodians of heritage buildings and places, the book provides strategies and tactics for understanding the heritage significance of materials, their fabrication, detail and use. The narratives that historic fabric contains can help shape the meaningful involvement of local people, providing a roadmap for those navigating the double-bind of using the past to underpin the future.

What underlying philosophy and mission should museums pursue in the first half of the twenty-first century? In Museum Philosophy, twenty-four authors use the lenses of a variety of disciplines to answer this essential question. Museum professionals offer their answers alongside philosophers, historians, political scientists, educators, sociologists, and others in a wide-ranging exploration of institutions from art museums to zoos. Hugh Genoway's book offers philosophical and ethical guidelines, describes the ways specific institutions illustrate different philosophies, examines major divisions in the museum community, and explores outreach and engagement between the museum and its larger community. Both established museum professionals and students of museum studies will benefit from this insightful look into the foundations and future of their field.

Museums and libraries inspire us to cross the limits of routine thought, into experiences of reflection and possibility. Each of the essays in A Place Not a Place examines the ways these and other cultural institutions influence us and proposes ways to strengthen their role as advocates for critical thinking and inquiry.

Museums and libraries inspire us to cross the limits of routine thought, into experiences of reflection and possibility. Each of the essays in A Place Not a Place examines the ways these and other cultural institutions influence us and proposes ways to strengthen their role as advocates for critical thinking and inquiry.

Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire analyzes the history of the negotiations that led to the atypical return of colonial-era cultural property from the Netherlands to Indonesia in the 1970s. By doing so, the book shows that competing visions of post-colonial redress were contested throughout the era of post-World War II decolonization. Considering the danger this precedent posed to other countries, the book looks beyond the Dutch-Indonesian case to the "Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles" and "Benin Bronzes" controversies, as well as recent developments relating to returns in France and the Netherlands. Setting aside the "universalism versus nationalism" debate, Scott asserts that the deeper meaning of post-colonial cultural property disputes in European history has more to do with how officials of former colonial powers negotiated decolonization, while also creating contemporary understandings of their nations' pasts. As a whole, the book expands the field of cultural restitution studies and offers a more nuanced understanding of the connections drawn between postcolonial national identity making and the extension of cultural diplomacy. Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire offers a new perspective on the international influence of the UNGA and UNESCO on the return debate. As such, the book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners engaged in the study of cultural property diplomacy and law, museum and heritage studies, modern European history, post-colonial studies and historical anthropology.

To Give and To Receive: A Handbook on Gifts and Donations for Museums and Donors, Second Edition covers the process of substantiating the value of a gift and the obligations of the donor and donee. It is a concise guide on tax incentives for gifts of art, historic objects, and many other types of collectible material to not-for-profit institutions. This second edition includes: -Current museum best practices -Recent changes in IRS regulations enacted in 2019, including IRS 8283 Non Cash Charitable Contributions and revised IRS definitions of the standards for qualified appraisal and qualified appraiser and the mandated appraiser declaration -New art professionals' case studies and legal case notes on copyright law Beth J. Parker Miller, Amy McKune, Laurette E. McCarthy and Romy M. Vreeland were the major contributors without whom this resource would not be possible. The 2020 edition also includes expert case notes by Helen A. Harrison, Luke Nikas and Maaren Shah, Jeffrey Patchen, as well as Elizabeth Morton's updated section on cultural patrimony and Robert Simon and MacKenzie Mallon's contribution on provenance. These additions focus on perspectives in collection management, provenance research, due diligence, cultural patrimony, and legal issues related to gifts to museums. This authoritative guide is intended for museums and donors alike, providing valuable information on the donation process, current standards and best practices, ethical and legal issues, and IRS updates and valuation considerations to include: -Up-to-date information on gifts to museum collections and related new and updated IRS regulations -Guidance to organize and implement a gifting plan with practical advice in making decisions on collection gifts -Broader applicability to family members, attorneys, estate bankers, foundations and financial advisors who help inform gift and donation decisions

This interdisciplinary study participates in the ongoing critical conversation about postwar American poetry and visual culture, while advancing that field into the arena of the museum. Turning to contemporary poems about the visual arts that foreground and interrogate a museum setting, the book demonstrates the particular importance of the museum as a cultural site that is both inspiration and provocation for poets. The study uniquely bridges the "dual canon" in contemporary poetry (and calls the lyric/avant-garde distinction into question) by analyzing museum-sponsored anthologies as well as poems by John Ashbery, Richard Howard, Kenneth Koch, Kathleen Fraser, Cole Swensen, Anne Carson, and others. Through these case studies of poets with diverse affiliations, the author shows that the boom in ekphrasis in the past 20 years is not only an aesthetic but a critical phenomenon, a way that poets have come to terms with the critical dilemmas of our moment. Highlighting the importance of poets' "peripheral vision"-awareness of the institutional conditions that frame encounters with art-the author contend that a museum visit becomes a forum for questioning oppositions that have preoccupied literary criticism for the past 50 years: homage and innovation, modernism and postmodernism, subjectivity and collectivity. The study shows that ekphrasis becomes a strategy for negotiating these impasses-a mode of political inquiry, a meditation on canonization, a venue for comic appraisal of institutionalization, and a means of "site-specific" feminist revision-in a vital synthesis of critique, perspicacity, and pleasure.

Answering key questions in the study of how museums communicate, Louise Ravelli provides a set of frameworks to investigate the complexities of communication in museums:
* What is an appropriate level of complexity for a written label?
* Why do some choice in language make a more direct relation to visitors?
* Is there a correct way of presenting a particular view of content?
* How do design practices contribute to the overall meanings being made?
The frameworks enhances the way we critically analyze and understand museums text, both in the sense of conventional written texts in museums and in an expanded sense of the museum as a whole operating as a communicative text.
Using a wide range of examples to demonstrate that all communication needs to be understood in relation to its social context, Ravelli argues that communication contributes fundamentally to what a museum is, who it relates to and what it stands for.
Not only museum studies and communications studies students, but also professionals in the field will find "Museum Texts "an indispensable guide on communication frameworks.

Answering key questions in the study of how museums communicate, Louise Ravelli provides a set of frameworks to investigate the complexities of communication in museums:
* What is an appropriate level of complexity for a written label?
* Why do some choice in language make a more direct relation to visitors?
* Is there a correct way of presenting a particular view of content?
* How do design practices contribute to the overall meanings being made?
The frameworks enhances the way we critically analyze and understand museums text, both in the sense of conventional written texts in museums and in an expanded sense of the museum as a whole operating as a communicative text.
Using a wide range of examples to demonstrate that all communication needs to be understood in relation to its social context, Ravelli argues that communication contributes fundamentally to what a museum is, who it relates to and what it stands for.
Not only museum studies and communications studies students, but also professionals in the field will find "Museum Texts "an indispensable guide on communication frameworks.

Written over a thirty-five year career, the essays in "Civilizing the Museum" introduce students to the powerful, sometimes contested, and often unrealized notion that museums should welcome all because they house the collective memory of all.
Drawing on her experience working in and with museums in the US and throughout the world, Author Elaine Heumann Gurian explores the possibilities for making museums more central and relevant to society.
The twenty-two essays are organized around five main themes:
* museum definitions
* civic responsibility and social service
* architectural spaces
* exhibitions
* spirituality and rationality.
And these themes address the elements that would make museums more inclusive such as:
* exhibition technique
* space configurations
* the personality of the director
* the role of social service
* power sharing
* types of museums
* the need for emotion humor and spirituality.
Without abandoning the traditional museum processes, Gurian shows how museums can honor tradition whilst embracing the new.
Enriched by her experience in groundbreaking museums, Gurian has provided a book that provokes thought, dialogue and action for students and professionals in the field to realize the inclusive potential of museums.

Electronic imaging and digital applications have brought numerous benefits for museums, galleries, archives and other organizations in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Bringing together leading international practitioners from different disciplines, the EVA (Electronic Imaging and the Visual Arts) conferences help those working in the field to gain the most from developments in multimedia technology. This accessible volume collects recent papers from EVA conferences, covering case studies from the world's greatest institutions, as well as from some of the smallest and most innovative. Topics covered include virtual reconstruction of destroyed buildings, digital image archiving, 2D and 3D digitization projects, website evaluation, virtual archaeology, handheld interactive visitor support, exploiting digital cultural heritage and electronic aids for non-speaking people, as well as summaries of international research and technology development. The volume presents in convenient form the wealth of experience of a great variety of international specialists, allowing readers to further enhance the visitor experience of their collections.

Urban Heritage in Divided Cities explores the role of contested urban heritage in mediating, subverting and overcoming sociopolitical conflict in divided cities. Investigating various examples of transformations of urban heritage around the world, the book analyses the spatial, social and political causes behind them, as well as the consequences for the division and reunification of cities during both wartime and peacetime conflicts. Contributors to the volume define urban heritage in a broad sense, as tangible elements of the city, such as ruins, remains of border architecture, traces of violence in public space and memorials, as well as intangible elements like urban voids, everyday rituals, place names and other forms of spatial discourse. Addressing both historic and contemporary cases from a wide range of academic disciplines, contributors to the book investigate the role of urban heritage in divided cities in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Shifting focus from the notion of urban heritage as a fixed and static legacy of the past, the volume demonstrates that the concept is a dynamic and transformable entity that plays an active role in inquiring, critiquing, subverting and transforming the present. Urban Heritage in Divided Cities will be of great interest to academics, researchers and students in the fields of cultural studies, sociology, the political sciences, history, human geography, urban design and planning, architecture, archaeology, ethnology and anthropology. The book should also be essential reading for professionals who are involved in governing, planning, designing and transforming urban heritage around the world.

Reshaping Museum Space pulls together the views of an international group of museum professionals, architects, designers and academics highlights the complexity, significance and malleability of museum space, and provides reflections upon recent developments in museum architecture and exhibition design.

Various chapters concentrate on the process of architectural and spatial reshaping, and the problems of navigating the often contradictory agendas and aspirations of the broad range of professionals and stakeholders involved in any new project.

Contributors review recent new build, expansion and exhibition projects questioning the types of museum space required at the beginning of the twenty-first century and highlighting a range of possibilities for creative museum design.

Essential reading for anyone involved in creating, designing and project managing the development of museum exhibits, and vital reading for students of the discipline.