Museum Basics

by Timothy Ambrose

Museums throughout the world have common needs and face common challenges. Keeping up-to-date with new ideas and changing practice is challenging for small and medium-sized museums where time for reading and training is often restricted. This new edition of Museum Basics has therefore been produced for the many museums worldwide that operate with limited resources and few professional staff. The comprehensive training course provided within the book is also suitable for museum studies students who wish to gain a full understanding of work within a museum.

Drawing from a wide range of practical experience, the authors provide a basic guide to all aspects of museum work, from audience development and education, through collections management and conservation, to museum organisation and forward planning. Organised on a modular basis with over 110 Units, Museum Basics can be used as a reference work to assist day-to-day museum management and as the key textbook in pre-service and in-service training programmes. It is designed to be supplemented by case studies, project work and group discussion.

This third edition has been fully updated and extended to take account of the many changes that have occurred in the world of museums in the last five years. It includes over 100 new diagrams supporting the text, a glossary, sources of information and support as well as a select bibliography. Museum Basics is also now supported by its own companion website providing a wide range of additional resources for the reader.

Genres: Nonfiction, Museology, Reference, Museums, School, Art, College

497 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 1993

Reviews

[Beele · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book costs £30 to buy BUT i did read the entire free 100-page preview so whateva

[Helen Turnock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically a glorified glossary of museum stuff. Interesting, but not that useful overall.

[Joe Dillenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually have the second edition. It is a text from my museum studies program. It is great for anyone who is interested in how small museums operate.

[Tim Milligan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed large portions of this, but did read quite a bit of it as well. It's an academic textbook that one would encounter in a Museum Studies Program, which I borrowed from the library (via interlibrary loan!) out of curiosity as to just what the field of study basics were. Some of it was interesting & illuminating, but it did remind me of the education classes & texts of my own profession (ie teaching) in that there was a lot of stuff that it felt like those actually "in the trenches" would roll their eyes at. It's very dry, but what do you expect from a textbook? No demerits for that, but wow does it have some awful "figures" in which vocab words are put inside boxes and arranged on the page, sometimes connected with arrows, or maybe linked in a circle, adding no meaning or value to the reader.

[Durgesh Nandhni · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book for the beginners aiming to make their career in museology or obtaining some information regarding museology.

[Mary Bronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed reading this. This had some interesting points and very understandable. Had to read this for class, but a good read.

[Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a lot of practical insights into museums and running one.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially an introductory reference book to the basic principles and practices of running an efficient and effective musicological institution.In contrast to many skeptical studies of museums, Ambrose and Paine are remarkably optimistic about the secure survival of museums as cultural institutions. However, the authors place emphasis on effective marketing and visitor experience. Despite the authors' assertion that the museum's responsibility to its collection should be foremost, issues of security and preservation are curiously not considered in other instances in favor of enhancing visitor experience, such as the allowance of photography (pg 36). While the authors treat the operation of museums as modern businesses, museums are nonetheless depicted as temples of knowledge (pg 35).

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a basic guide, this is a good reference tool to assist in shaping a museum, a sound collections management policy, and marketing strategies for the museum. A visitor's experience perspective also helps museums understand how and why people come to specific places, and what they are expecting from museums. For the new curator especially, this management tool can assist with understanding how the focus on an institution's collections help shape the roles the museum can play. A great coverage of general museum functions.

[Guiltyofbeingmike · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's certainly truth in advertising here. It's basic. Good, if dated, thoughts on metrics to consider in planning and exhibit design (i.e. Fry test; summative evaluation suggestions). Definitely a few laughs with the scolding take on deaccessioning collections and the segment on "computerisation."

[Alis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic overview of a broad array of mostly common sense stuff, but if you are starting from the very beginning or just need a refresher, it's a decent reference tool.

[Yangyu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic as its name. Good to grasp general basic facts of how museum works.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an introductory book to museums. It literally wrote out every single thing you might ever need. Plus its graphics were kinda funny.

[Lenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference book that I use in my courses.