Museum literature as a foundation for change: new perspectives for museum practice

Abstract

The fi rst museum studies curricula, developed in the 1960s, mapped out the core functions of collections management, conservation, curatorship, exhibition planning, and interpretation. Mastery of these areas, often in addition to a disciplinary specialization, distinguished early museum professionals. Such widely used texts as Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums (E.P. Alexander, 1978, revised most recently in 2017) o ff ered a baseline of knowledge and skills for the museum practitioner. Over time, additional core functions including management, computer usage and digitization, public programming, and marketing, and such key principles as social responsibility, inclusivity, diversity and community engagement rounded out curricula, creating challenges for covering all areas in appropriate depth, and generating a wealth of new more specialized reference texts. Not surprisingly, programs that focused on single core areas such as curatorship or exhibition design emerged. Today there are over 110 masters programs in museum studies worldwide 1 along with many other academic and professional development programs that grant undergraduate, diploma or doctoral cre-dentials in general and specialized areas of practice.