A Study on the Improvement of the Evaluation Indicators for Museums of Korea: Focusing on ISO 21246:2019

The International Standard Organization (ISO) published two museum standards, ISO 18461:2016 - International museum statistics and ISO 21246:2019 - Key indicators for museums, which were developed through close cooperation with International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). This study aimed to introduce the major characteristics and details of ISO 21246 and to derive practical results for the improvement of museum evaluation in Korea by analyzing ISO 21246. ISO 21246 is the international standard for museum indicators, consisting of six clauses and two annexes. Firstly, This study summarized ISO 21246:2019, compared it with ISO 18461, and analyzed terms and its definitions and each evaluation indicator of ISO 21246. Secondly, this study compared ISO 21246:2019 with museum and library evaluation indicators of the Korean government and other related research. Thirdly, based on that analysis, this study suggested new museum evaluation indicators for the museums of Korea consisting of 48 indicators in 9 categories and proposed various recommendations for Korean museum evaluation policy. This study is significant in a sense that it can usefully function as a complement to Korean museum evaluation policy through examining in detail ISO 21246:2019 which has not been clearly studied in Korea until recently.