Key concepts of museology

FOREWORD The development of professional standards is one of the core objectives of ICOM, particularly in the area of advancement, sharing, and communication of knowledge to the broad-ranging global museum community, but also to those who develop policies in relation to its work, to those responsible for managing the legal and social aspects of its profession, and not least to those to whom it is directed and who are expected to participate in and benefi t from it. Launched in 1993, under the supervision of André Desvallées, and with the collaboration of François Mairesse from 2005 onwards, the Dictionary of Museology is a monumental work resulting from many years of research, interrogation, analysis, revision and debate by ICOM's International Committee for Museology (ICOFOM), which is particularly devoted to the process of developing our comprehension of the practice and theory of museums and the work that is undertaken within these institutions daily. The role, development and management of museums has changed greatly in the last couple of decades. Museum institutions have become steadily more visitor-focused and some of the larger museums are veering more towards a corporate management model in their daily operations. The museum profession and environment have therefore inevi tably evolved. Countries such as China have seen an unprecedented increase in their museum presence, but there are equally important museum developments occurring at the micro level, for example in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These exciting changes 8 lead to increasing discrepancies in museum job specifi cations and training courses across different cultures. In this context, a reference tool for museum professionals and students of museology is all-the-more essential. Where the ICOM/UNESCO publication Running a Museum: A Practical Handbook provided museum practitioners with a basic handbook on current museum practice, the Encyclopaedia Dictionarium should be regarded as a companion piece, providing a complementary perspective on the theory of museums. While the challenges of day-today work often overwhelm the ability of the museum fi eld to stop and think about its fundamental philosophical bases, there is a growing need for functionaries at all levels to rise to the challenge of bringing clarity and comprehension to those who question the relevance of the museum to society and its citizens. ICOFOM's crucial work as encapsulated in the Encyclo-paedic Dictionary provides for a cogent, structured deconstruction and distillation of the core precepts underpinning our work today. Although the Dictionary presents a predominantly Francophone …