Museum

A museum is a place where people can go to learn. Most museums have exhibits and collections. These institutions may be nonprofits or run for profit. They may have large or small staffs, or they may rely completely on volunteers.

The generally accepted idea of a museum, according to such organizations as the American Association of Museums and the International Council on Museums, is a place where people can see and learn about things. This often is described as public service through education. Through museums' collections, humankind may interpret the world and learn more about itself.

Types of Museums

Many types of museums exist. These include battlefield homes, villages, and other sites where historical re-enactments may take place or where costumed persons demonstrate the way people lived in the past. Other types of museums include aquariums and zoos, art museums, botanic gardens, culturally specific museums (such as the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC), halls of fame, children's museums (where visitors are encouraged to participate in hands-on experiences), planetariums, natural history museums, nature centers, science and technology museums, presidential libraries, and specialized museums that focus on a specific interest such as guitars or spies.

Some museums are related to business or industry. For example, a toy manufacturer may house a collection that is open to the public. The biggest difference between a simple collection and a museum collection is that a museum collection provides context and interpretation of the collection, which can lead to greater understanding. Museum collection displays, which provide visitors with an experience, are called exhibits. The space, lighting, objects, and the way in which items are grouped are part of the design that gives an exhibit meaning.

History

Scholars have unearthed evidence of collections dating back to antiquity. Ancient Romans appreciated and collected art, and paintings of the gods were in public areas and temples. These examples, however, were not interpreted in any way that would qualify as a museum. In Asia and Africa, early rulers promoted and collected art, and treasures could be viewed in temples.

Early examples of collections were found throughout Europe during the Renaissance, from about the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Wealthy people, primarily royalty, bought exotic items and occasionally allowed members of the public to view them. Many art collections in palaces were open at times to visitors. Although these collections provided little in the way of context, they were meant to be a display of wealth. During the seventeenth century, a growing interest in science led to research museums, which had collections of artifacts that were available to only scholars of the sciences. Such collections were known as cabinets. These cabinets led to the development of the scientific classification of animal and plant kingdoms.

This increasing interest in the study of artifacts led scholars to seek to preserve their collections after their deaths. Many also were concerned with further advancing science by opening their collections to a wider audience. Some individuals gave their private collections to local governments.

The first museum created for and open to the public began when Elias Ashmole donated his private collection of natural history artifacts to the University of Oxford. The university erected a building, which opened in 1683 as the Ashmolean Museum. It was the first permanent public exhibition built and owned by a corporation. The Ashmolean building grew over the centuries, and in 1924, it acquired the collection of Lewis Evans, which is the basis of the public Museum of the History of Science. Scholars visit the museum to study its collection of about twenty thousand relics, which include sundials, telescopes, cameras, and early mathematical instruments such as navigation tools.

Beginning with the openings of the British Museum (1753) in London and the Louvre (1793) in Paris, governments lent support to public education through exhibits. The British Museum was opened to house three collections left to the government by Sir Robert Cotton, Robert Harley, who was the first earl of Oxford, and Sir Hans Sloane. Sloane's collection of one hundred thousand items includes a number of natural history artifacts and art and numismatic materials. The Louvre opened in part due to the French concern that royal collections were not available to the public. Public pressure and the revolutionary government forced the Grande Gallerie of the Louvre palace to open to the masses in 1793. When Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) conquered much of Europe, he looted art and sent it to France. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna ordered the works to be returned to their owners. The French people clamored for art, and more collections became open to the public.

The European Model was adopted by museums around the world, beginning in the late eighteenth century. In the United States, painter Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) opened the Peale Museum in Philadelphia in 1786. The collections of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta became the Indian Museum in 1784. The Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences was founded in 1812 in Buenos Aires, while the Australian Museum opened in Sydney in 1829.

In the early nineteenth century, a number of archaeological expeditions provided new artifacts, which led to the founding of new public museums. Museums of antiquities opened in Denmark, France, Greece, and other countries.

The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the eighteenth century, created a greater interest in public education in Britain. As the public became more urban, governments supported museums as both educational and entertainment centers. Leaders viewed museums as important means of encouraging technical and scientific advances. The first world's fair, the Great Exhibition of 1851, led to the creation of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum in London.

A gift from Englishman James Smithson (1765–1829) enabled the United States to establish the Smithsonian Institution in 1846. The institution opened the U.S. National Museum in 1858, as well as numerous other museums through the years, including the National Portrait Gallery, American History Museum, National Zoo, and National Air and Space Museum.

Bibliography

"About Museums." American Alliance of Museums. American Alliance of Museums. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. http://www.aam-us.org/about-museums

Dillenburg, Eugene. "What, If Anything, Is a Museum?" National Association for Museum Exhibition. National Association for Museum Exhibition. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. http://name-aam.org/uploads/downloadables/EXH.spg‗11/5%20EXH‗spg11‗What,%20if%20Anything,%20Is%20a%20Museum‗‗Dillenburg.pdf

"History." Museum of the History of Science. Museum of the History of Science. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/about/history/

Mauk, Ben. "What Was the First Museum?" Live Science. Purch. 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. http://www.livescience.com/32400-what-was-the-first-museum.html

Merrick, Jay. "Future Classic: The World's First Public Museum Gets a £61m Makeover." Independent. Independent Digital News and Media Ltd. 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/future-classic-the-worlds-first-public-museum-gets-a-16361m-makeover-1811072.html